


Anger, Souls, Time and Space

by ShelltacularWingedQueen (MrsVisyakSinger)



Series: TMNT/OC (and Leo/Renet) Stories [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Mistakes, Rescue, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 16:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3454478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsVisyakSinger/pseuds/ShelltacularWingedQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raph was on the West coast and had his gun ready to end his life when that annoying Timestress came and stopped him. As much as he can't stand Renet or her friend that they're stuck staying with, he has a chance at saving his brothers from death and he isn't about to pass that up. Leo/Renet implied, eventual Raph/OC.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Quite The End

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All Gone Now](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/100664) by Deanie95. 



Raphael awaited the impending blackness that was death but it never came...

 

"What the...?" Raph looked over at his hand holding the gun to his temple and from his wrist to the gun's barrel was enveloped by a vaguely familiar blue light and he wasn't able to move. 

 

That was when he saw  _ her  _ .

 

The Timestress sent a glare his way, "Like, don't even finish that thought, Raph."

 

"Renet? What the hell are you doin' here?"

 

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life," Renet tightened her grip on the Time Scepter, "Just like Leo would."

 

"Don't say his name," Raph lunged for her with the hand he could still move when his whole body was enveloped in the blue glow of the Time Scepter, "Lemme go ya', good fer nothin' Time Bimbo!"

 

"Not till you shut up and listen to me."

 

Raphael had no desire to hear her piece. He had never thought of her as capable, especially since she'd gotten him and his brothers trapped in time not once, but three times. Raph counted it as three times rather than two because he secretly blamed Renet for that whole 'getting scattered across time and space by Ultimate Drako' thing.

 

After that, Raph figured they were done with her, never to see her again. That was, until one day...

 

Master Splinter had gone out of town. Raph, Don and Mikey had gone to April's and Leo stayed in The Lair. He made some excuse and whatever it had been, Raph and the others had brushed it off as Leo being his boring usual self and left without him.

 

Upon their return, which was much sooner than Leo had anticipated, they caught Leo having sex with Renet on the floor behind the couch...

 

At least they hadn't been  _ on  _ the couch because if that had been the case Raph never would have sat on the couch ever again. Either way, Raph never thought Leo had that in him. 

 

Then again, Leo had always felt something for the Time Bimbo and she was probably here now because she obviously felt the same.

 

Every fiber of Raph's being wanted Renet to go away, leave him with his gun and let him do what he planned in the first place. But, being at her mercy, he had to give in and let her speak.

 

"Go ahead..."

 

"Go ahead, what?"

 

"Time Bimbo."

 

"Nu-uh..."

 

"Leo's Time Bimbo?"

 

"One more time."

 

"Go ahead, Renet."

 

The Timestress gave a smile, "Thanks, Raph. Anyway, Lord Simultaneous sent me but, I woulda came here even if he didn't send me. Your brothers weren't supposed to die."

 

"So I was?"

 

"I totally didn't say that! They weren't supposed to die and neither were you. So, you didn't and you're sure not s'posed to kill yourself. Look, one thing's for sure: Where there's death there's always gonna be death but, in the window of time that's passed, that death shouldn't have been for you, Leo, Donnie, or Mikey. This needs to be fixed and, even though it's not that simple..."

 

Now Raph was frustrated, "What'dya mean it ain't that simple? Ya' just wave your damn Scepter and everything goes back ta normal."

 

"Wrong! The Scepter can't fix everything on its own. Plus, we need to know that the souls of your brothers are still with us. We're gonna need to visit a friend of mine..."

 

"Oh no! No friends, no nothin'. I..."

 

"You've gotta, Raph. That is, unless you never wanna see your bros again and sit here trapped in my time bubble for the rest of your life. 'Cause I'm not letting you go till you work with me, mainly 'cause I'm not gonna let you blow your brains out!"

 

"Ya' do know that you ain't my favorite person, right?"

 

"Duh! I'm not your biggest fan either but, I love Leo and Mikey and Donnie are my friends. You care about your brothers too and, right now I'm your only chance at saving them. So, make your choice."

 

Raph sighed, she had him cornered, "Do I gotta hand over my gun?"

 

The Timestress nodded, she reached into the blue glow around Raph and took the gun, "Yep."

 

"Now that ya' got it, mind letting me outta this light?" Raph was stuck cooperating as it was and if that was his only choice in the matter, she had to cooperate with him as well.

 

"Sure, once we're at my friend's place," Renet waved the Time Scepter, "Scepter, you know where to take us."

________________________________

 

Raph blinked and found that he was able to move again. He looked to his left and saw Renet, still equipped with the Time Scepter.

 

Looking to his right, he found that he was no longer on the beach but, inside a house with the AC cranked and Boston Red Sox memorabilia covering practically every wall.

 

"We still in Cali?" Raphael asked.

 

"Yep and I forgot to this say before but I'm digging the pirate look, it totally works on you," Renet giggled which made Raph scowl, he wanted this to be over already.

 

"Shea? It's me and I brought my friend...Shea?" Renet asked.

 

A young woman walked into the room, "Right here, Renet. How y'all doin'?"

 

Renet smiled, "Shea, am I glad to see you!"

 

"So," began Shea, "This here's ya' friend...I expected him ta' be taller."

 

"Maybe if ya' weren't wearin' hooker platforms ya'd realize I ain't short," Raph crossed his arms, he was already despising Renet's friend.

 

"Ouch! Ya' got a sharp tongue, huh?" Shea smirked, she seemed at ease being spoken to like that.

 

"And I'm damn proud of it."

 

"I can tell."

 

"Shea, could we like, I dunno, get started?" Renet interrupted Raph and Shea's 'banter'.

 

" 'Course Renet, all ya' had to do was ask," Shea led the way out of the room, "This way."

 

Shea brought Raph and Renet to a room that was empty save for a large circular table in the center of the room, a few chairs and a crystal ball.

 

"Great, psychic mumbo jumbo..." Raph had seen his share of the supernatural but, that certainly didn't mean he had any faith in psychics.

 

"Do I look like a psychic ta' you?" Shea shot him a glare, "It ain't for that crap, it's for holding a séance."

 

"A what?"

 

"A séance, talkin' ta' dead people. Renet, he always like this?"

 

Renet shrugged, "I think so."

 

Shea threw her head back and laughed, " 'Course he is. Don't be shy, sit down and we'll get this goin'."

 

"Renet, I get ya' wanna help, but I never agreed to usin' voodoo," Raph so badly wanted to punch someone, "Besides, I bet this ain't even gonna work."

 

"She's not using voodoo," Renet lied through her teeth but, the next part of what she was going to say wasn't a lie, "Shea can't like, talk to the dead herself and that's where the spirit of her great-great-great grandma comes in...I think I forgot some of the 'greats'..."

 

"Get to the point, will ya'?"

 

"Right," Renet continued, "Shea's grandma, however many greats, and Lord Simultaneous go way back and every now and then, Shea and me work together like this. Don't doubt her, just go with it. I mean, you've seen aliens, you've traveled through time, you've fought dragons and a bunch of other way ugly dudes in the Battle Nexus and you have doubts about this?"

 

Raphael couldn't argue with that logic no matter how much he wanted to.

 

Shea sat behind the crystal ball with Raph and Renet on either side of her and they joined hands.

 

"Come on...Come on, Grandma I need you now," Shea's eyes were closed as she spoke and a light slowly emanated from the crystal ball, "Got it! Thanks, Grandma. Raph, this one's all you. I got a Michelangelo, a Donatello and a Leonardo, but that last one knows you ain't wanna talk to him much so he's hangin' back. Renet's connection with him is strong though, real strong."

 

________________________________

 

_Raph found himself surrounded by an impending darkness, was this death? Had Shea's bullshit 'magic tricks' sent him here?_

 

_"Raph!" Raphael knew that voice and in that moment he felt as if Mikey hugged him._

 

_"Mikey...I...I'm sorry I..."_

 

_"Raph, it isn't your..." That was Don's voice; Raph caught a quick glimpse of him before he felt a sudden jolt._

 

________________________________

 

"Gahh!" Raph hit against the chair in reality, let go of Shea's hand because of it and proceeded to topple over.

 

"I know, Grandma...Till next time," Shea let go of Renet's hand and opened her eyes and the light in the crystal ball dimmed out, "Tell me Raph, what'd ya' see?"

 

Raph was panting on the floor, "Mikey and Don...and I felt Mikey hug me...I..."

 

"I always love seein' what happens with first timers when they come back. How 'bout you, Renet? You see and feel your man?"

 

The Timestress nodded, "I did. He knows we're trying to save him and his brothers. He said thanks and he asked about you, Raph."

 

"Leo asked about me?"

 

"Uh-huh, he asked how you were and, I told him you could be better...way better...But, he said thanks for the update anyway," Renet wiped her eyes, "He wants to talk to you but, he figured you wanted to be left alone so, he's totally respecting that."

 

Raph caught his breath and managed to stand up, "Mind tellin' me where that was?"

 

"Ya' heard a the Realm of Dreams?" Shea asked.

 

"Rings a bell, what about it?"

 

"That's kinda where it was but, think of where you saw as one a them dark alleys where some shady stuff goes on that ain't nobody talk about. Sometimes souls wander there forever without the chance to escape but, thankfully, we can save your bros and then you can get the hell up out my house," Shea smirked, "But, judging by the three seconds you lasted during the séance it's gonna take a while."

 

"A while? Days, weeks, months, what? Gimmie somethin' solid," Raph wasn't very pleased with her round-about way of giving explanations.

 

"Renet, you wanna dumb this down for Patchy The Turtle over there?" Shea stood up to leave, "Oh and Renet's gonna have ta' give you them numbers, she goes by Simultaneous' orders and so do I."

 

"Patchy The Turtle?" Raph growled. He really didn't appreciate the one-eyed crack. It was one thing coming from Renet but now it was coming from this broad in hooker heels that he barely knew? 

 

Raph would have said something back if he wasn't still reeling from his recent out of body experience, or was it an out of mind experience?

 


	2. Truce and The Road To Inner Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael can't fight with Shea forever and, speaking of fighting, he can't be mad at himself forever either. How will he fair getting past both of those things?

Renet had explained in detail what was going to happen:

 

Raphael had a month and a half to prepare his mind to re-enter that dark corner of the Realm of Dreams to save his brothers while Renet went to the moment in time that they were lost and would prevent it from happening. One particular thing that stuck in his mind was what Renet had said before...

 

_"Where there's death, there's always gonna be death."_

 

Maybe it wasn't going to be him, Leonardo, Donatello or Michelangelo but, someone was going to die.

 

Raph put that out of his mind for now and focused on the positive. He was going to succeed in saving his brothers. That was the important part. He was stuck in a house with the Time Bimbo and her annoying wise-ass Boston Red Sox fanatic gal pal, but if staying here for a little while was going to bring his brothers back, it was worth it.

 

Currently, Raphael was sitting in Shea's tranquility garden. He was doing his best to focus and meditate which would probably be easier if Shea wasn't four feet away in the pool with the pool-side stereo turned up to an outrageous volume.

 

Raph was starting to understand why Leo craved peace and quiet so badly, no matter how well he'd learned to tune everyone else out.

 

"Somethin' wrong?" Shea lowered her sunglasses to look up at Raph who now stood pool-side glaring at her.

 

"Would it kill ya' ta' turn off that noise?" Raph asked through clenched teeth.

 

"All ya' had ta' do was ask," Shea pushed her floating chair to the edge of the pool, got out of it and turned off the stereo, "You're real cranky, ya' know that, Patchy?"

 

"And you're a real wise-ass, Capp'n Hooker," Raph finally had a 'term of endearment' for Shea.

 

"Real creative," Shea got back on her chair in the pool, "You can't ease your mind bein' angry all the time..."

 

"I ain't angry all the time!"

 

"Really? Then ya' ain't gonna be angry when I do this..."

 

"Do what?"

 

Shea grabbed Raph's arms and pulled him into the pool. Raph got soaked, seeing as Shea dunked him. She got splashed a little bit but remained dry for the most part.

 

"That," Shea sipped the drink in the cup-holder on the arm of her chair, "What's takin' ya' so long ta' come up, huh? That shell a yours weighin' you down?"

 

"Nope," Raph pushed Shea out of her chair and caused her to fall into the water.

 

Shea quickly got out of the water, wrapped a towel around herself and she wrapped her hair in another towel, "What'd I say before?"

 

Raph climbed out of the pool and ignored her. She had provoked him on purpose and he knew that she expected some kind of reaction out of him.

 

"Look, I've gotta get this chlorine out my hair before it does any damage. I don't mind if ya' wanna use the pool some more, but don't push me into it again, ya' hear? 'Cause if ya' do, it ain't gonna be pretty!" Shea made her way back into the house.

 

"I'm back...I..." Renet had returned from wherever she'd gone off to, "Did something happen?"

 

"Don't ask," Raph sat back down in the tranquility garden facing away from Renet.

 

_______________________________________

 

The Timestress sighed as she leaned back against the pillows of her guest bed. She'd been here at Shea's place many times before and she'd stayed in this very room all those times awaiting orders from Lord Simultaneous about fixing untimely deaths but, never in a million years did Renet think that she'd be sitting here waiting for orders that involved saving someone that she loved with all her heart.

 

"Leo..." Renet held her head in hands, no longer able to fight the tears.

 

Before The Timestress had come back to witness the end of the incident that was now referred to as 'The Pool Fiasco', she'd been in New York. She managed to set up a meeting with Master Splinter, April and Casey. During this meeting, she explained the situation and further explained that Leo, Don and Mikey could and would be saved.

 

As much as Renet knew that she'd be able to hug Leo again, she didn't want to wait. She wanted him right now and more than anything.

 

What she lacked, Leo made up for and she did the same for him. Leo had called them a perfect balance, Yin and Yang. Two polar opposites that came together to make one perfect entity.

 

"Renet," Raph walked into the room, as Renet had left the door open, "Capp'n Hooker wanted ta' know, uh...Are you...cryin'?"

 

Renet looked up at Raph, clearly embarrassed that she'd been caught crying, "Yeah."

 

"Why ya' cryin', huh?" Raph already had a pretty good idea as to why.

 

Renet lifted her right wrist towards Raph to show him a familiar blue bandana tied around it, "He gave this to me...He hasn't seen me since...I wish he was here right now to see me wear it and..."

 

Raphael wasn't good at comforting others and as much as he couldn't stand Renet most of the time, she loved his big brother and for that, he couldn't hate her too much, "And if Leo was here right now I don't think he'd wanna see ya' cryin' your eyes out."

 

"You're right," The Timestress smiled through her tears, "Like, what did Shea wanna know?"

 

"What ya' wanted for dinner," Shea walked into the room, "I was gonna order pizza. That's cool with you, right, Patchy?"

 

"Aye, Aye, Capp'n," Raph mocked her with a salute.

 

_______________________________________

 

It was late, Raph had near given up on putting his mind at ease and made his way over to the pool. He stuck his feet in, Shea did give him the okay to use the pool after all.

 

Over dinner Renet talked about having gone to New York and talking with Master Splinter, April and Casey. Going to see them had been a suggestion from Shea.

 

This was based on the fact that the more people who believed that the trapped souls would be set free made the power of those freeing them much stronger. Raph almost didn't want to hear anything of this, in his head all he saw were April's big green eyes crying without ever stopping. He was at fault for those tears. April was family, their sister, someone that they could always rely on no matter the circumstances and here, he let her down. How dare he do this to his sister.

 

These feelings weren't about to dissipate, no matter how much Renet said that no one blamed him for what happened. Raph didn't find comfort in her explanations of time sometimes being as big a bitch as Mother Nature. He was angry, especially angry with himself and he only grew angrier at himself because of his inability to ease his mind and focus.

 

"This seat taken?" Shea sat down next to Raph and also stuck her feet in the pool.

 

Raph shook his head no and he continued to stare down at the water at his reflection. There was his face, missing one eye. In that one eye no longer there, he saw each and every negative thing that his anger at himself was reminding him of. Master Splinter dedicated his life to raising him, Leo, Don and Mikey and this was the thanks he got? His rebellious son ran off to the west coast with every intention of killing himself?

 

"You got somethin' on that mind a yours," Shea sipped the martini glass she had with her, "Ya' can tell me what it is, I ain't gonna judge you or nothin'."

 

"It don't matter..." Raph could sit there and tell her his life story on top of every other thought racing through his mind but he really doubted that it was going to help at all.

 

"Then if you ain't gonna talk, mind if I do?"

 

"Guess not."

 

"Good," Shea finished off her drink, "I've learned a lot about you and you ain't even been here a week yet. I learned so much from The Pool Fiasco this afternoon. Givin' in ta' your anger is second nature to ya'. It does help ya' some but, other times, it holds ya' down. You can't let it hold ya' down."

 

Raph crossed his arms, maybe Shea had something here, "And how do ya' suggest I do that?"

 

"Ya' gotta face that anger."

 

"How?"

 

"Make it work ta' your advantage, the way I know ya' do when you bust up low-life criminals."

 

"Look, I get what'cha mean," Raph looked up at her now, "But, that's physical. How am I gonna get that to work up here?" He pointed to his head.

 

Shea finally gave a genuine smile, "I'll show ya'. C'mon now, Raphael, we got a lotta work ta' do!"

 

"Raphael?" He was surprised to hear her call him a name besides Patchy.

 

"That's your name ain't it? Or do ya' want me callin' you Raph?"

 

"Either one."

 

"A'right, Raph," Shea extended a hand towards him, "Truce?"

 

"Truce, Shea." He shook her hand.

 

"Great," Shea stood up and ran back inside, "C'mon, this is gonna be fun!"

 

Raph sighed, knowing that if Shea had dubbed this 'fun' it would be fun for her, not for him.

 

_____________________________

 

Shea brought Raphael back to the room where they'd held the séance. He certainly didn't feel up to going back to The Realm of Dreams, especially because of all the thoughts running through his head.

 

"Have a seat if ya like," Shea then turned to walk out of the room, "I'll be back."

 

Raph sat down and when he looked up Shea was back and lugging in a full-length mirror, "Need a hand?"

 

"If ya' don't mind."

 

Raph helped her prop the mirror up against a wall, "What's this?"

 

"A mirror, and it's guaranteed ta help put your mind at ease," Shea sounded confident, "Lemme show ya how it works."

 

Shea stood before the mirror, she put her hands up to it, closed her eyes and a few seconds later, she stepped back and in the mirror was a reflection of her. However, the reflection was in black and white and wasn't matching up with the way Shea moved.

 

"This ain't no ordinary mirror. It's a mirror into your mind. See her? She's me up in my head. We're two different people who make up one person, and we used ta' not be so friendly but we're cool now," Shea seemed to high-five her reflection.

 

"We been cool since I proved myself. Ya' gotta make peace with the voice in your head." Shea waved good-bye to her mind-counterpart as it disappeared, "Your turn, Raph."

 

Raphael walked up to the mirror and did just what Shea had done before, "Nothin's happenin..."

 

"Give it a sec."

 

Raph was soon faced with the reflection of his mind, in black and white. Raph stood motionless while his reflection bared his teeth and went to punch at the mirror that separated them. Raph felt a strong hit to the jaw and backed away from the mirror, "That didn't just..."

 

"It did," Shea nodded, "Fight him back, you gotta fight him and win ta' prove yourself. Keep in mind, he's you. You're your own worst enemy. Now, make peace with that enemy."

 

"How do ya' expect me ta fight him when he's in there and I'm out here?" Raph asked only to be pushed into the mirror by Shea.

 

Raph was inside the mirror now and looked out towards where he'd been pushed from to see Shea on the outside waving to him.

 

"I'll be right here in case ya' need me ta' come and fish ya' outta there...But, you'll be stuck in there till y'a beat him and I'll only come and pull ya' out if it looks like you're losin' too bad," Shea walked up close to the mirror again, "See? I'm not too far away." She stuck her hand into the mirror and then pulled it back out.

____________________________________

 

 

"Dammit Shea!" Raph cursed her as he was now inside the mirror waiting for the reflection of his mind to come at him.

 

"Lookin' fer me?" Raph's reflection pushed him to the ground.

 

"Damn right," Raph equipped his sais and this Bizarro Raph, as Raph had now dubbed his adversary, did the same.

 

Bizarro Raph wasted no time, he charged at Raph and quickly pinned him, "You never face your anger, now you're gonna pay for that."

 

"I'm about ta' face it head-on, whack bag!" Raph slipped out of Bizarro Raph's grip and threw him far.

 

"You shouldn't have done that," Bizarro Raph stood up and threw a sai in Raph's direction that didn't hit him at all.

 

"Ya' missed me," Raph took a defensive stance, ready for whatever was to come next.

 

"Wasn't aimin' at 'cha..."

 

_Raphael blinked and before him, he saw him and Mikey going up against each other in the Battle Nexus. This match ended as victory for Mikey. His incessant taking had caught Raph off guard._

 

_"Michelangelo is a fool, he's a bumbling idiot. Always poking fun at you, never letting you live down this defeat, does someone like him really deserve another chance? Think about it, what did he ever do that was so significant for you? I'll tell you what: nothing."_

 

_That was a bold-faced lie! Mikey had indeed come to Raph's rescue and that was without him even knowing it. When he and his brothers had fallen under the control of the Cyber Shredder, it had been a memory of his youngest brother that freed Raph from the mind control._

 

_This memory then turned into a new one. Don was sitting at the table going on about something when he claimed that all Raph did was sleep all day. This was during the time that Leo had gone to Central America and Raph had been The Nightwatcher, that was why he slept all day, but Don didn't know that when he'd claimed that all Raph did was sleep all day._

 

_"See that? Donatello, your so-called genius brother judged you, he's always does...He sees you as a flight risk, perhaps a bigger flight risk than Michelangelo. All he sees you as is a nut-case with anger issues."_

 

_This was yet another lie. While it had come up in discussion that everything ticked Raph off, Don certainly didn't think badly of Raph. No, he built him the Shell Cycle and when he got around to building himself one, they worked on them together; it was something they found that they could bond over. Not only that, but when they got the chance to get the video games away from Mikey, they made a great tag-team. In combat as well, Raph clearly remembered how they'd given Leo a run for his money in a practice session. Leo managed to defeat them both, but that was only after he'd broken the unity of their team work._

 

 

________________________________________

 

"I'm pullin' Raph out!" Shea said to herself as she put her hand up to the mirror.

 

"Whoa, there," The reflection of Shea's mind stopped her, "He's strong, stronger than you might think. Give him a little longer."

 

"I can't argue with myself now, can I?" Shea stepped back, waiting for Raph to finish this.

 

______________________________

 

 

 

_That last memory faded and a new memory started. Raph saw himself and Leo as kids. He was leading the way and Leo was going on about how they shouldn't have gone this far. Raph knew this memory, he and Leo were attacked by a giant albino crocodile and it was Leo's knowledge of pressure points that saved them._

 

_"You're ungrateful, you know that?" Raph heard Bizarro Raph speak, "Leonardo saved your shells here and when he was named leader, you only grew jealous of him. This memory no longer mattered. Why go to great lengths to save the one you're so jealous of? He makes you angry, you know he does. Especially with that holier than thou attitude of his. Leo is a self-righteous tool, don't save him as he saved you here, don't save him or the others, don't."_

 

_Sure, Raph would admit that he challenged Leo left and right and that he never was happy that Leo was the so-called leader in battle, but, that was still his older brother. Was his older brother a self-righteous tool with a holier than thou attitude? Yes, but, he was still his brother._

 

 

_As the memories finally faded, Raph found himself with Bizarro Raph's sais pointed to his throat._

 

_"Give up yet?"_

 

_"Never," Raph gave Bizarro Raph an upper-cut to the jaw, "You're a part a me I ain't proud of but, that don't mean that I ain't in control!"_

 

_With that, Raphael pulled Bizarro Raph's arms behind him, kicked him down by his shell and secured an hold on his left arm, "Ya' give up yet?"_

 

_"No..." Bizzaro Raph struggled._

 

_"Funny thing about that," Raph tightened his grip on the arm and turned it into an arm bar, "I said the same thing ta Leo when he put me in this hold a while back and 'cause I wouldn't give up, he broke my arm. I don't blame 'im. I was askin' for it and so are you!" Raph proceeded to break Bizarro Raph's arm._

 

_Bizzaro Raph let out a scream and disappeared. Raphael stood alone for a second until Bizarro Raph, re-appeared. He didn't look as mean or intimidating now. He extended a hand towards Raph, "Nice job, didn't think ya'd do it in one try."_

 

_Raph shook Bizarro Raph's hand, "Didn't think so either."_

 

_"Get outta here, we're even. And, you been spendin' too much time with Mikey."_

 

_"What makes ya' say that?"_

 

_"I'm you up here remember?" Bizarro Raph pointed to his head, "I could hear ya' callin' me Bizarro like evil Superman."_

 

_"Heh, yeah, I guess so. See ya' 'round," Raph stepped out of the mirror and back into Shea's séance room._

 

 

_____________________________________

 

"Welcome back," Shea greeted Raph as he fell to his knees, "You okay?"

 

"Y-yeah..." He sounded groggy, "Tired from that."

 

"Took a lot outta you huh?"

 

Raph nodded, he now found forming words to be even more tiring.

 

"C'mon, Patchy. Capp'n best get you ta' bed," Shea helped him up and started to lead him to his guest room.

 

Raph let her lead the way, he was satisfied with having faced his inner-demon and now being at peace with it. His mind had been put at ease, for the sake of saving his brothers, the most important task at hand.

 


	3. Time to Get Serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's about time Raph gets serious in his training to stay in the Realm of Dreams for longer than 3 seconds but, how smoothly can that really go?

Raphael slowly opened his eyes to see Shea placing a cold washcloth onto his forehead, “Shea?”

 

“Sleepin' Beauty finally woke up!” Shea laughed, “You been out cold for three days.”

 

“Three days?” Raph went to spring up when he was stopped by blue light from The Time Scepter.

 

Renet walked in with the Time Scepter in hand and her Timestress gear on, she had either returned from somewhere or was leaving, “Stay down, Raph. You've been like, running a fever.”

 

“Great...just great,” Raph was released from Renet's light and lay back down, “How'dya know I have a fever, huh?”

 

“I came ta' check on ya' two days ago, was gonna shake you ta' wake ya' up and I damn near burned my hand by touchin' your arm. We called up what's her name, the red-head...”

 

“April.” Renet offered.

 

“Yeah, her.” Shea continued to explain, “And, she said do our best ta' bring your fever down and as long as you was breathin' not ta' wake you up, she said she had notes on whatever and your immune system is different and shit and you'd get up once ya' felt better. Do ya' feel better, Raph?”

 

“Didn't know I was sick,” Raph propped himself up against the pillows that Shea raised up for him, “I don't feel sick.”

 

“Then I guess ya' made yourself better.”

 

“April said the weather change totally must have thrown you off and got you a little sick.” Renet added.

 

Raph shrugged, this was all news to him.

 

“You still tired?” Shea asked, “ 'Cause if ya' tired, g'head and sleep. There ain't gonna be no time for you ta' rest once we get back ta' dabblin' in the Realm of Dreams again.”

 

“I ain't tired.” Raph got out bed and finally wasn't stopped from doing so, “Let's get this show on the road.”

 

Shea smiled, “I like your attitude, Raph.”

 

“Bye!” Renet waved good-bye, “I'll be back later, like, don't wait up for me,” The Time Scepter did its thing and Renet was gone.

 

* * *

 

Shea had been going on about esta'blishing a strong spiritual connection with the trapped souls for the last fifteen minutes. Raph kept trying to interrupt but it seemed that every time he was going to, Shea interrupted _his_ interruption!

 

“Any questions?” Shea finally finished her spiel.

 

“Shea, you been goin' on and on 'bout the spiritual connections with the trapped souls, I get it! Ain't that lesson one?”

 

Shea perked up, “So, you remembered, huh?”

 

“'Course I remember, this is kid stuff by now!”

 

“Not really, we both grown here so I ain't gonna sugar coat nothin',” She paused for a moment, “I only explained the basics again 'cause I don't want ya' forgettin' them when I give ya' what we gotta' work on...”

 

“Give it to me straight, doll.”

 

“Doll,” Shea laughed, “you're so New York, ya' know that?”

 

“I was gonna tell you the same thing. What's that about, huh?”

 

“Lived there a couple years and my pops was from there. I picked up more of his speech than ma's. She was from Baston.” Shea said Boston the way Boston natives.

 

“That explains all the Sox crap ya' got on every wall.”

 

“Not _every_ wall, most of my walls. Some of these walls got nice pieces of fine art coverin' 'em.”

 

“Self-portraits of you are fine art?” Raph couldn't help but laugh, “Just 'cause ya' paid a ton for 'em don't make 'em fine art.”

 

Shea threw her head back and laughed, “Well, excuse me, Raph! What do y'all suggest I put on my walls? Oh wait...that's right. Just 'cause ya' named after some big-time painter don't mean you know anythin' bout paintings.”

 

“Ya' got me there, Shea,” Raph held his hands up in surrender and they both sta'rted to laugh.

 

When their laughter finally died down they were able to get back to the seriousness of the situation.

 

“A'right, so, makin' a long story short: Ya' faced your anger and got it workin' for you when ya' made peace with your mental-self. Now, we go back ta' spiritual connections. I know ya' don't wanna hear this again, but here it is: If you had a good connection with a soul before that soul was lost, your connection is gonna stay strong, but, if ya'' didn't...Well, you need to work out your issue with that soul. In your case, ya' gotta make nice with your big bro. I get right now he's been leavin' you alone and whatever, but, you gotta make contact and say whatever ya' gotta' say to get a stronger connection or else ain't nobody gettin' saved.”

 

Raph sighed in defeat, he was worried about how Leo might react with what was going on, “This is my only choice?”

 

“Damn right it is! Don't get too worked up, now. I talked ta' Leonardo some yesterday, he got it outta' me that you were sick and sent ya' well wishes. You can tell him ya' feelin' better yourself.”

 

“A'right, Shea. Take me ta' the Realm of Dreams.”

 

“You got it!” Shea put both hands on her crysta'l ball and closed her eyes, “Grandma? I'm here again...yeah, we're doin' that...thanks! Here we come!” Shea took one hand off the crysta'l ball and held it out to Raph and he held it.

 

* * *

 

_Raph was surrounded by the same darkness the last he was here. Yet, he didn't feel as if his skull was on fire or as if his presence here was forced. His mind was indeed at ease now._

 

“ _Shea?” He asked._

 

“ _I'm here, Raph.” Only her voice was heard, he wouldn’t see her,“I'm kinda hidden, I'm makin' sure you and Leonardo got your space ta' talk. You gotta make the contact, I know he's around.”_

 

“ _Leo? Ya' here, bro?” Raph asked hoping to get a response._

 

“ _Raph?” There was Leo, clear as day._

 

“ _Hey...'sup?” Raph wasn't sure how to start, “Look, I uh...”_

 

“ _There's no need to apologize,” Leo changed the subject, “Are you feeling better?”_

 

“ _Yeah, I didn't know I was sick ta' tell ya' the truth. Renet really misses ya', y'know...”_

 

_Leonardo put his hand over his heart and looked down. In this moment, it was clear just how strong his feelings for The Timestress had become, “I know.”_

 

“ _And I miss ya' too, all three a you guys. We're gettin' ya' outta here soon, real soon. I promise.”_

 

_Leo looked up again, “Remember when I said you weren't ready to be a leader?”_

 

_Raph remembered that oh so clearly, especially the part where Leo got captured by Winters._

 

“ _'Course I do...”_

 

“ _Well, little brother,” Leo placed a hand on one of Raph's shoulders, “you're ready now.”_

 

“ _Thanks, bro.” Raph smiled at Leo, happy to not be at odds with him for once._

 

“ _Uh-oh...” They both heard Shea's voice._

 

“ _Shea? Everything alright?” Leo asked, ready to spring into action if need be._

 

“ _For now...Y'all keep talkin'. I gotta' take care a somethin...'" Shea wasn't saying it, but, there was someone trying to interrupt their contact, someone who quite possibly wanted the souls of Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo to be lost forvever._

 

“ _Raph?” Shea asked, “Ya' gotta' get outta there! Leonardo, get ta' Donatello and Michelangelo. Be on your guard and if anythin' at all happens, contact my grandma's spirit or try and get in touch with Splinter.”_

 

“ _Shea, Master Splinter is here. I can sense him,” Leo really could sense his father's presence._

 

_Raph could sense him as well but he was quickly pulled out of the Realm of Dreams by Shea._

 

_Shea was still there and now without words, she'd teamed up with Master Splinter and they were both doing all they could to drive away the negative force._

 

* * *

 

In reality, Raph was no longer holding Shea's hand. He hadn't fallen completely out of his chair this time which was an improvement and he'd certainly been in The Realm of Dreams longer than three seconds.

 

Both of Shea's hands were on her crysta'l ball and a dark gray light was swirling inside the crysta'l, Shea's eyes remained closed.

 

Raph stepped back away from her, unsure of what to do. He knew not to make any noise knowing that it might break her concentration.

 

* * *

 

“ _Who are you?” Shea only put more power into fighting the negative force._

 

“ _Who I am is not a question I will answer for you.” The voice was female, it was booming and a slight lacing of vengeance was present in the voice._

 

“ _Karai.” Master Splinter knew who this was and he strengthened his power of fighting her off as well._

 

“ _Karai no longer exists, however, The Shredder lives on. Do as you will, rat and witch. You may defeat me here in this realm, but that does not change the fact that I will kill those accursed turtles once again if you succeed in bringing them back. I will not forget to finish off all four of them this time.”_

 

 

* * *

 

 

Renet looked down from a ledge of the wall and saw Karai.. She was meditating or something and this was a moment where Renet was allowed to interrupt her first hand.

 

“Scepter, help me out a little,” Renet waved the Time Scepter and tapestry bearing The Foot Clan insignia fell over Karai. “Thanks, Scepter.”

 

Karai's concentration was clearly interrupted and she fought to get out from under the tapestry, “Who dares enter my quarters uninvited?”

 

“Up here,” Renet was levitating and waved to Karai, “We haven't met so, I'll make this quick. I'm Renet,” Renet stopped a barrage of ninja stars Karai threw at her and with the Scepter's help, these stars were thrown back at Karai, “I'm here to put you in your place, at least until some friends of mine do it again.”

 

“You are clearly not of this Earth...” Karai put on her Shredder helmet, “Come down here and face me at once!”

 

“Have it your way,” Renet floated down in front of Karai, “I've gotta warn you though. I'm like, not an expert ninja or anything, but, the one guy in the world who can beat you taught me plenty.”

 

“Leonardo!” Karai sent a punch at Renet which was quickly stopped through manipulation of time, “What?”

 

“I can kinda control time, Scepter or no Scepter,” Renet threw the Scepter in the air, waved her hand and the Scepter was then hidden, “It'll only come back when I ask it to.”

 

“What a waste of time that was,” Karai smirked under her helmet, “Now, you have no weapon to fight me with.”

 

“I'll admit that I'm totally not the smartest in the world but, I'm not the dumbest either,” Renet pulled a single sword out from under her cape, “I came prepared.”

 

* * *

 

 

Shea had been forced out of the Realm of Dreams. She tried to at least hold to the crystal ball, but she couldn't get a grip on it and was pushed backward with such momentum that she slammed straight through the chair she'd been sitting in and hit the wall, back of her head first.

 

“Shea?” Raph ran to her and knelt down beside her, “C'mon, Shea, get up.”

 

She stayed unresponsive.

 

“No...Shea!? Shea, you ain't...DAMMIT SHEA!”


	4. The Edge of Seriousness and Reflection of True Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raph understands how serious the situation he's in is and, while he grasps that part, he can finally let out the feelings he had to push aside when he first began his training with Shea...But, is there another feeling in the mix, one that he and Shea both share and need to address?

Karai swung her sword at Renet and missed yet again. 

 

"Stop moving at once," Karai ordered.

 

"Like, no way," Renet blocked Karai's attack.

 

The Timestress then had a marvel idea. Karai's armor did look rather advanced.

 

"Scepter," Renet called upon the Scepter and it appeared in her hand, "Check this one out, Karai!" 

 

Renet threw both her sword and the Time Scepter in the air and kicked at Karai. Confused by Renet's move, Karai backed up when she found metal to her throat and that she couldn't move due to being trapped in a blue light.

 

* * *

Raphael was at a loss. He knew not to move Shea or else he could make any damage that she'd sustained worse. She was alive, she had to be.

 

"C'mon, Shea. Open your eyes," Raph was getting nervous and was in need of something to punch.

 

The crystal ball on the table now lit up. A sliver of bright light made its way out of the crystal ball and went into Shea's body. She then rocked forward and let out a cough.

 

"Shea?" Raph asked, hoping for a response.

 

After another cough, Shea opened her eyes and looked at him, “Hey, Raph...Why ya' lookin' at me like that?" 

 

"I thought ya' were..."

 

Shea moved away from the wall, "Nope, my grandma wouldn't let nothin' happen ta' me the same way Master Splinter wouldn't let nothin' happen ta' you guys. He helped me fight off the chick who was tryna kill your bros in the Real of Dreams." 

 

"Karai," Raph decided that right in that moment he and Karai were going to be exchanging words soon, words that would be spoken by their blades of course.

 

"Yeah, that's her. But, she was all: I am The Shredder," Shea did her best to imitate Karai's way of speaking, "Wanna explain who The Shredder is?" 

 

"Sure, I'll..." Raph stopped as a familiar scent filled the air, the unique metallic twang to it made it a smell impossible to forget, "Shea, you're bleedin'." 

 

"I ain't..." Shea put a hand on her neck and when she looked at her hand again, it was completely red, "bleedin...? I...I hate blood. Goddammit!" 

 

"Shea, calm down," Raph scooped up her up, "Just calm down." 

 

"C-calm down?" Shea panted, "How the hell am I gonna calm down?" 

 

"Look, I'm gonna get ya' cleaned up, that's somethin' ain't it?" 

 

* * *

Renet had taken a large chunk of Karai's armor and was about to leave.

 

"You would not face me, Timestress. This fight has proved nothing," Karai struggled to move, she was still very much trapped by the Time Scepter's light.

 

"You're right, this totally didn't prove anything," Renet readied herself to leave, "Except it did do one thing..."

 

"Answer me, idiot!" 

 

"Like, the only idiot here is you. I totally interrupted your time in The Realm of Dreams and my friends who are helping protect Leo and his brothers found a way to block you from The Realm of Dreams all 'cause I distracted you for like a second." 

 

"WHAT?" Karai's glare intensified, to put it lightly, she was outraged.

 

"Uh-huh, seeya.” 

 

* * *

Originally, Raphael thought that learning how to treat wounds, cuts and the like from Donatello had been a waste of time. He had always claimed that he would never use such a skill, a skill for chumps at that.

 

 But, in the last few minutes, Raph had eaten those words. He'd cleaned Shea's wounds and dressed them. Raph was now standing on the opposite side of Shea's room while she lay flat on her stomach on her bed. Raph was glad that Shea was okay now and even though she seemed alright, he still wanted her to see a doctor. After all, she'd hit her neck and went through a chair.

 

"Raph, I'm waitin' on Renet. She can reverse time on these wounds and I'll be good as new," Shea argued.

 

"Shea, we ain't got any idea of when she's s'posed ta' be back. A doctor can help ya'..."

 

"What am I s'posed ta' say, Raph?" Shea cleared her throat, "Ahem: Hi, I'm Shea Frost. I was messing with psychic stuff and then I got attacked while I was in a spirit realm and my mind and body got separated and I got thrown through a chair and inta a wall and that's how I got these wounds, care ta fix me?" 

 

Raphael sighed in defeat, he wasn't going to win, "Fine, but if ya' really ain't feelin' good go see a doctor." 

 

Shea let out a sigh as well, "A'right Raph, you win! I'll go see a doctor if and only if I feel like shit."

 

"Sounds good ta' me." 

 

Shea smiled at him but, her smile quickly faded. She put a hand on her left shoulder and ironically enough, this was a spot that hadn't been a victim to the shards of the chair from before.

 

"Ya' okay?"

 

"Not really...My shoulder hurts and it ain't even wounded."

 

"Maybe I could help," Raph walked back over to her from where he stood, "This feel any better?" Raph had started to massage her shoulder.

 

"Oooh," Shea smiled again, "Well, don't you got the magic touch." 

 

"It's a gift." 

 

"Did I say stop? Keep it goin'." 

 

"I don't take orders from nobody, Shea." 

 

"I ain't too proud ta beg, Raph."

 

"Then I ain't gonna stop."

 

"I was hopin' you'd say that." 

 

There was a sudden knock at the door, “Uh, guys? It's Renet….Can I come in or are you guys like, busy?" 

 

Raph and Shea looked at each other and burst out laughing when they realized what Renet had been implying. 

 

"Get'cha ass in here, Renet," Shea yelled, "I need ya' ta work that time magic on these wounds I got. And remind me, I gotta get thicker walls." 

 

Renet entered the room, tossed something in Raph's direction and went to fully heal Shea's wounds.

 

"And this is?" Raph looked at the chunk of metal in his hands.

 

"A piece of Karai's armor. I totally knew there had to be something way off if she beat you guys and I found out. She has that Chaplin dude working on a finalized Super Solider DNA prototype and she's been injecting it into herself. But like, the effects don't last and she needs the armor to power up, it helps to inject her with the 'juice'. It makes her faster and more like, rabid. She meant to do you in, Raph. But, she fled the scene 'cause her juice was running out and she wouldn't have been able to like, take you." 

 

Now everything made sense. Raph had been aware of it before his brothers had been. It looked as if they weren't trying as hard as he was that fateful night but, no…

 

It was an unforeseen curve ball and no one could quite put their finger on it. Each of his brothers had proceeded as normal. Raph was sure that Donatello hadn't even noticed that and if Don hadn't noticed, Leo and Mikey must not have had any idea either. 

 

"Thanks for the heal up, Renet," Shea thanked The Timestress.

 

"Shea, like, don't thank me. Thank, Raph. He made healing you all the way easier," Renet turned to leave the room, "Little Miss Shred-Head can't get back into the Realm of Dreams and Shea, I totally love your bikini." 

 

"Thanks, girl." 

 

Raph looked away from the girls because he felt a little embarrassed. He did indeed have Shea strip down to her bathing suit which she'd thankfully had underneath her clothes. 

 

But, he'd done this as a safety precaution, he wanted to be sure to address all of her wounds and if there were more wounds on her, Raph wanted to treat them. Also, he was a bit embarrassed because he'd checked Shea out a little bit once she was okay. Wasn't checking out a girl normal? 

 

Besides, if his brothers had been there, they all would have looked. 

 

Well, alright, Donatello and Michelangelo would have looked and Leonardo would have been all over Renet but, the other two would have been looking just like Raph had been.

 

* * *

Raphael was sleeping his dreamless sleep, this was his new normal. Not that he ever had dreams or remembered them when he did but, now that this first month at Shea's was coming to a close, he had become much more aware of such simple things. 

 

Perhaps it was because he was more mentally aware, what with having made peace with his inner demon and the time he'd been spending in the Realm of Dreams communicating with his brothers.

 

This was simply going to be another night of dreamless sleep, he'd wake up, meditate, have breakfast, go to the Realm of Dreams some time between then and after lunch and maybe end up doing some solo training or talking baseball with Shea for a little and then doing solo training. His routine never differed too much.

 

"Raph, wake up," Shea shook him gently.

 

"Shea?" Raph had never been a light sleeper but, Shea’s sudden presence had taken him by surprise. 

 

"Yeah, get'cha ass up," Shea made her way back over to the door of Raph's room and slowly opened it.

 

Raphael grabbed his sais from the night table and walked over to Shea, "Where we headed?"

 

"Follow me."

 

Shea led the way down to her massive garage and led Raph right past his Shell Cycle and to a brand new Harley Davidson motorcycle.

 

"Wanna drive 'er?" Shea gestured towards the bike, "She was a present and I don't do motorbikes. It's a shame for her ta' just sit here, look pretty and never get out."

 

Of course Raph wanted to drive the bike. It was a Harley, and from the looks of it, it had to be in tip-top shape, "Where the hell am I s'posed ta' drive 'er to, huh? Ya' still ain't told me that part." 

 

"Look, get'cha gear on, I'll put on the gear I ain't never used before and then I'll tell ya' where ta drive, sound good?" 

 

"Whatever," Raph grabbed his riding suit and helmet from off of his Shell Cycle.

 

* * *

 

With Shea's directions, Raph ended up pulling to a stop on the edge of the beach. The minute he stopped, Shea let go of Raphael, threw off her helmet and ran onto the beach.

 

“You comin', Patchy?" Shea looked back at him with a taunting grin, "Bet'cha can't catch me." 

 

"I beg ta' differ, Capp’n," Raph ran after her.

 

"Ya' gonna hafta do better than that, Patchy," Shea was no longer looking behind her but forward towards the ocean, she was convinced that she'd beaten Raph.

 

"Ya' mean like this?" Raph tackled her from behind right into the sand.

 

“Oh, no! Ya got me, Patchy! Ya got me," Shea started an over-dramatic performance, "I surrender my ship, my crew and my booty. Plus, the money I got on board," She then started to laugh and so did Raph, the joke was very corny, but it had been kind of funny.

 

Raphael let Shea out of his hold and he stood up while Shea stayed on the ground for a minute simply staring at the ocean. She took her time standing up and when she finally did, she pulled off her motorcycle riding suit, threw it in the sand and ran right to the water's edge. 

 

She pulled off her t-shirt and shorts and also threw them in the sand. Shea now stood only clad in her bathing suit and walked out into the water a bit more not saying a word. Raphael also stayed quiet until Shea looked back at him.

 

"Yeah, Shea?" He asked.

 

"Get outta that suit and then c'mon over here," This wasn't a suggestion, the serious air about Shea's voice made it clear that this was an order.

 

Complying with her request, Raph ditched his suit and made his way into the water. He waited for her to keep speaking.

 

"I didn't bring ya' out here tonight for no reason, Raphael.” Shea began, "You done come a long way this past month and we've got half a month ta go. Your body is strong and your mind is strong. They finally work together. Even workin' together, your emotions still rule ya' sometimes. You don't let 'em control you anymore but, they're just as strong as you are. Renet told me you were gonna end ya' life if she didn't show up when she did. She waved the Time Scepter and ya' ended up here with me, just kinda thrown inta somethin' you sure as hell didn't sign up for. But, when ya' found out ya' could save your brothers, it all changed. You were in a million percent because your brothers mean everything ta you. Still, you ain't had a chance ta let out all that stuff ya' had ta bottle up because ya' had ta focus on the important part: Savin' your family. Now, the ocean, it's got love, hate, tears and eveythin' in between. It ain't gonna judge you no matter what ya' need ta let out. If ya' gotta cry, g'head and cry. If ya' gotta scream, g'head and scream. That's why I brought ya' here. It’s so ya' can finally have a chance ta let it all out where ain't nobody gonna judge you. Not me, not your bros, not your pop, and not nobody else." 

 

"Shea, I..." Raph started.

 

Shea put a finger to her lips and she created distance between them, "This is between you and yourself Raph, not me. I'll be around but, ya’ gotta let out what'cha gotta let out on your own. I ain't gonna be around listenin' to ya'," With that, Shea ran off over to some sand dunes surrounding a private little spot of ocean. She was very far from Raph now, she was indeed leaving him to let it all out.

 

* * *

 

Raphael screamed until he was hoarse, these screams soon turned to silent tears and throwing handfuls of sand into ocean. He could taste his tears and he figured that they were just as salty as the ocean water itself however, he wasn't going to test that fact. 

 

Mikey would have...That put a slight smile on Raph's face. 

 

Thinking back to the ocean water, Raph knew that if Don were here, he would have already filled a couple of test tubes with the water and when they got home, Don would get himself some Atlantic Ocean water and just for fun, he would compare the water from both oceans. 

 

This brought Raph's mind to Leo...Splinter Junior, Sir Big Feet Leonardo of The Land Mines, Jungle Boy, 'Fearless' Leader...If Leo was so damn fearless and such a great leader why did he bitch out that night? Why? 

 

Then Raph let out a sigh, it was because Leo was thrown off, they all were. 

 

Leo always went in with a plan and even when his plans went to shit, Leo still made like he knew exactly what he was doing. He was the responsible one, always taking the burden of the failures of his team...Raph was starting to get this now, a lot more than he'd gotten it before. 

 

Here was Raph, sure, he was getting some help but, he was the leader in this twisted situation, he was the one who would be doing the saving of his brothers.

 

Raph thought of how he'd always been compared to Leo, he was always slower, a bad student, not at all disciplined like Leo and he'd always been shorter until last year. 

 

Raph was the tallest of his brothers at 6'5, Don and Leo were 6'3 and Mikey remained the shortest at exactly 6'0. On the note of their final growth spurt, Raph realized it was about time he grew up. 

 

He'd done a great deal of growing up in the past month. In that time, he had come to understand that there was to be no more animosity between him and his eldest brother. They would always be at odds from time to time, their personalities were just set to but, he was putting aside all the jealousy he'd ever had towards Leo over the slightest things. 

 

Raphael said long ago that he'd realized why Splinter had chosen Leo as leader and not him, but, even with those words at that point in time, Raph hadn't understood them the way he did now. 

 

He was in Leo's place, taking the burden of responsibility, no matter how much it hurt.

 

Plunging both his sais into the sand, Raph walked out further into the water and looked up to see the moon touching the ocean. It was just a reflection, he knew that. 

 

Taking a breath, Raph decided that he needed to break the silence he'd slipped into.

 

"I'M GONNA SAVE YOU GUYS, I AM. LEO, DON, MIKEY, I'M GONNA GET YA’ ALL OUTTA THERE AND WE'RE GONNA BEAT KARAI ONCE AND FOR ALL. I GOT DIBS ON 'ER HEAD BUT, WE'RE GONNA BEAT ‘ER. YA' HEAR ME? WE'RE GONNA BEAT 'ER AND WE'RE ALL GONNA BE A TEAM AGAIN. WE'RE GONNA COME OUT ON TOP LIKE WE ALWAYS DO. I PROMISE YA’ THAT MUCH!" Raph then fell to his knees as his proclamation had taken a lot out of him and there was no doubt that his voice was shot by now, he wondered where Shea was but, for now he decided to see if could stand up. 

 

He got a hold on his sais, used them as leverage and slowly but surely stood up. 

 

"Raph," Shea walked up to him, "You good or ya' gonna need more time?" 

 

"I'm good, Shea. We can go if ya' want," Raph answered her, his voice was a bit raspy but, it would probably come back after some sleep.

 

"We don't hafta...I mean, it's still dark out, ain't nobody around. We could get in some swimmin', I mean, I got in some swimmin' but, I don't mind goin' out there again."

 

"I thought ya' couldn't get your hair wet." 

 

"I can, I gotta wash it real good when we get back but, I can get it wet." 

 

"Okay then," Raph put his sais back on his belt, quickly ran out further into the water and splashed some at Shea.

 

"Watch it," Shea couldn't keep a straight face, she laughed and got next to him.

 

Raph splashed her again, "Y'know Shea, I bet'cha can't keep up with me in the water." 

 

"That sounded like a challenge ta' me, Raph," Shea crossed her arms.

 

"Probably 'cause that's what it was," Raph went to splash her only to get splashed himself.

 

They went about splashing each other until Shea pushed Raph into the water. In reality, he'd let her push him down, “Got’cha, Patchy!”

 

"Guess so, Capp'n," Raph raised his hands in fake surrender.

 

Shea grabbed one of Raph's sais and held it to his neck. He knew that she was playing around so, he'd let her grab it, "I demand back my ship, crew and my money!" 

 

Raph smirked at her, "That all ya' want, Capp'n? What about ya' booty, huh?" 

 

"I mean, ya' did knock me flat on it before, Patchy. But then again, how bout I give ya' somethin' besides my booty?" 

 

"Make me an offer, Capp'n." 

 

"Well," Shea batted her eyelashes, "How 'bout instead of my booty ya' get somethin' else, somethin' kinda small but, I'm sure it'll make ya' just as happy..." 

 

"And what's that?" 

 

"My lips," Shea dropped the sai she was holding and moved her face closer to Raph's, "How's that sound?" 

 

"Dunno," Raph would have sat up but, he remembered how much taller than Shea he was now that she wasn't wearing her high heels, "Ya' gotta show me how they're gonna make me just as happy." 

 

Shea could feel her heart hammering like mad in her chest. Their flirting had lead up to this. She had no idea that this was going to be how tonight played out. 

 

That was a risk she took when she'd woken Raph up. She thought they wouldn't get close at all, she had taken him here so he could let anything out, not for any other reason. She wasn't psychic and hadn't foreseen this but, she had to admit she liked where it was going. Their funny little game of ‘Capp’n and Patchy', the jokes, the laughter. Things almost foreign to the both of them, yet, here they were and it was happening. 

 

A smirked graced Raph's face, he had indeed told Shea to kiss him but, he was very much convinced that she'd chicken out. 

 

She was a rich girl, an uptown girl despite her very downtown manner of speaking. Shea had probably dated male models and the sons of moguls…

 

Raph wondered why she had been flirting with a freak like him in the first place and the answer hit him hard with Shea's kiss. 

 

Kissing her back, he realized that they were more alike than he thought. Shea had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and had grown up with everything her heart desired while Raph had been officially 'born' after the whole thing with the canister of ooze and had been raised in the sewers, trained as ninja and for years, Raph had no idea that the world topside existed.

 

Even though their beginnings were quite different Shea and Raphael had one very important thing in-common: they were both freaks. 

 

He was a freak because he was a mutant turtle, most considered him a monster just by looking at him. 

 

She was a freak because of her ability to talk to her great-great...however many greats grandmother's spirit and talk to the dead and saving trapped souls with help of that spirit. 

 

Raph then initiated what would become the second kiss between him and Shea, she kissed back without even so much as split second hesitation. Raph had got to thinking that Shea had been settling for him because of the fact that they were both freaks but, in this second kiss, he knew that he was wrong about that. 

 

Shea had opened up to Raph because he understood her completely and she understood him. He knew what it was like to have to hide away, keep distance, and almost never forge relationships of any kind with outsiders because of all the risks that came with exposing secrets that were meant to be kept in the first place.

 

The pair gently pulled apart and without words, Shea collected up her clothes, put them on over her bikini, zipped on her riding suit, put her helmet back on and waited patiently as Raph picked up his sai that had fallen in the sand. He put his riding suit and helmet back on, got back on the Harley and gestured for Shea to get on as well. She held onto him tight as he drove back to her place.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am doing my best to edit and upload the last couple chaps, I promise you won't be disappointed. Thanks for reading!


	5. Putting The Plan Into Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has all come down to this, it's time to put the plan into action but, it's only the beginning. Will Raphael be able to save his brothers?

Shea lay back in her pool chair, basking in the sunlight.

 

"It's a shame..." She sighed.

 

"What is?" Raph asked from where he sat at the edge of the pool.

 

"If I'm remeberin' right they ain't got sunshine like this in NYC." 

 

"Shea, ya' wanna tell me why that even matters?" Raph gave her a confused look.

 

Lowering her sunglasses to look at him, Shea was prepared for Raph to react badly to the news, "It matters 'cause we gotta go back ta' NYC 'cause that's where ya' bros were killed and 'cause we had ta block Karai from the Realm of Dreams, the time reversal we gotta use ain't complete and total time reversal." 

 

Raphael hadn't quite been sure about how the time reversal crap was supposed to work but, never did it ever come up that he would have to go back to New York. 

 

Sure, he was going to have to go home eventually but, Raph had hoped that he would be able to come home with his brothers. Facing Master Splinter would would be easier that way.

 

"I ain't with this," Raph held his head in his hands. Didn't Shea get how difficult this was going to be? 

 

"Raph!" Shea pushed her floating chair over to the edge of the pool where Raph sat, "Don't get mad, I know ya ain't wanna see Splinter, but..."

 

"But what? Ya' decided ta ignore that?" 

 

Shea crossed her arms, "Raphael, calm ya' ass down! And no, I didn't. Just gimmie five minutes ta explain, okay?"

 

Raph let out a low growl in defeat, "Make it quick."

 

"Splinter is ready ta forgive you, Raph. I been sayin' that and sayin' that and so has Renet. Ya' don't believe us so, ya' gotta go and hear it up close and personal. Plus, I mean...maybe I'm getting too involved here but, ya' never know when the last time you see someone is gonna be and ya' never want their last memory of you ta be tainted, y’know? I only say that 'cause I know what that's like...Please, if you ain't gonna go back ta NYC for me, Renet or Splinter, do it for your brothers." 

 

"I'll think about it," Raph hopped into the pool, "Race ya' ta the other side." 

 

"You're on," Shea got back into the pool.

 

* * *

 

Renet sighed as she watched from her window up in her guest room. Raph and Shea were no longer racing around in the pool but they were now huddled in one of the corners of the pool quite obviously making out. 

 

The Timestress was happy for them but, did they really have to do this now of all times? They were going to go back to New York and Renet hoped that Shea and Raph wouldn't suck face the whole way there.

 

"Hello?" Renet answered her Shell Cell which had been yet another gift from Leo, “Oh, hey, April. Yeah, we're gonna leave maybe tonight and we'd totally drive the 20 hours straight but, trust me, I know time and like time in a car with anyone for that long can be major torture. M'kay, awesome. Uh-huh, I know where your store is and so does Raph, we'll be alright. See ya’." 

 

As the phone line went dead, a few tears escaped from Renet's eyes, she could stop missing Leo once they were back in New York. To keep positive, she took to packing.

* * *

 

_Raphael was in the Realm of Dreams right now. His spiritual connection with his brothers was at its strongest as of late and the night before, he'd finally had an actual dream. In this dream, Leo had asked to speak with him and that was more of why he was here now._

 

_"Leo?" Raph asked, "Ya' around bro?"_

 

_"Raph!" Leo smiled at his brother, "You got my message I take it?"_

 

_"Yeah, what's up?"_

 

_"Renet...She's very sad right now and I'd appreciate it if you and Shea were more considerate of that," Leo explained._

 

_"What'dya mean sad? Renet ain't sad, she's the same annoying...I mean, the same ray a sunshine she's always been."_

 

_"No, Raph. She isn't. You might not notice it but I do. I'd try to get in contact with her but, it's better that I keep my distance until I'm fully back or unless it's necessary that I speak with her."_

 

_"Why's that, huh? Ya' can't comfort your own woman?"_

 

_"Raphael, that's not the point! Assume something were to go wrong, what kind of person would I be to give Renet false hope that we'd be together again? You and I both know that one should always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst."_

 

_"A'right Leo, Shea and me ain't gonna make Renet miss ya' more, okay?"_

 

_"Thank you," Leo bowed to his brother, "Really, thank you."_

 

_"Yeah, yeah...Don't make a big deal about it."_

 

_"Raph!" Once again, Raph felt that Mikey hugged him._

 

_"Mikey?" Raph got a chance to hug him back this time, "Ya' really here?"_

 

_"I'm here, Raph," Mikey smiled, "And Leo's here and so's Don!"_

 

_"Right," Don answered to confirm this fact._

 

_Overcome with a feeling of relief like no other, Raph was sure that he indeed had to go back to New York._

 

_"Hey guys," Raph started, "I'm goin' back home ta' see Master Splinter..."_

 

_"That's great Raph," Don smiled at his brother, "He really wants to see you!"_

 

_Mikey nodded, "Uh-huh!"_

 

_"You'll be alright Raph, we know it," Leo spoke again, "We'll see you soon, brother."_

 

_"Hold it, Leo. Ya can't just push me outta here, I'm here talkin' to ya!"_

 

_"They ain't pushin' you out, Raph," Shea's voice was heard, "Ya' don't need ta be spendin' much time in there and we gotta get goin' so, c'mon on out!"_

 

* * *

 

Snapping back to reality, Raph turned his head to see Shea holding tightly to the crystal ball on the table. He watched Shea let out a long sigh and finally let go of the crystal ball.

 

"We gotta go and we gotta go now," Shea grabbed the crystal ball up and ran out of the room, “C’mon!" 

 

* * *

 

Renet threw her duffel bag into the trunk of Shea's car and then made her way to the driver's seat. She didn't express it but, she was very thankful that Raph and Shea weren't in the back seat together because if they were, Renet was sure that she'd be getting an eyeful of their shenanigans until they got to the first rest stop.

 

"Wait, Renet is driving?" Raph wasn't sure how he felt about that, especially if Renet's driving turned out to be anything like Leo's.

 

"That's right," Shea lowered her sunglasses to look at Raph in the rear view mirror, "Look, I ain't let nobody touch my cars but, I trust Renet enough ta make an exception. Plus, I've been in a car with her before. Keep ya' shell on, Raph." 

 

Raph rolled his eyes at that last remark, " 'Cause my shell ain't attached ta me or nothin'." 

 

"You say somethin', Boo?" Shea turned up the car's radio and Raph was quickly drowned out by the music.

 

Knowing Shea wasn't about to turn down the music, Raph lay down in the backseat and closed his eyes to take a nap. This skill of napping in total noise was a skill that only Raph, Don and Leo had mastered because they'd lived with Mikey all their lives.

 

* * *

 

"Wake up, Raph. We're stoppin' for the night," Shea shook the sleeping mutant.

 

Raph opened one eye and found Shea throwing his riding suit in his face, "Ya' coulda just told me ta get dressed." 

 

"Figured that was more effective," Shea couldn't help but laugh, "But y’know, Renet got us a room already. We ain't gotta leave the car right this second..."

 

"What'dya mean, Shea?” Raph found himself smirking. He had managed to zip on his riding suit and he pulled Shea close to him.

 

With her free hand, Shea grabbed Raph's face and kissed him with all her might but she stopped abrubtly, "We gotta go inside. Renet's gonna be..."

 

Raphael took this chance to cut her off with another long kiss. Not until they were both out of breath did they stop kissing, "Now we can go inside." 

 

"You win this round, Raph," Shea had finally caught her breath and led the way out the car.

 

"I coulda told ya' that." 

 

"You're a real arrogant bastard, ya’ know that?" 

 

"Takes one ta know one." 

 

* * *

 

Shea opened one eye to see Raph, he was sound asleep right next to her. Slowly turning her head to the other side of the hotel room, Shea realized that Renet was gone. Knowing that she'd have to be quick not to wake Raph, Shea decided to go and look for Renet. 

 

She succeeded in not waking Raph as she slipped out of bed. Next was opening the door to go outside...maybe that wasn't such a great idea. Even though Raph may not have felt her leave the bed, he'd sure hear her open the door. But, the good news was that they were on the first floor and that they left a window open.

 

Making her way to the window, Shea found the formerly missing in action Timestress standing in front of it and saw that it was raining out. 

 

"Renet, somethin' wrong?" Shea asked.

 

"Shea? I didn't think anyone else was like, awake," Renet sounded startled. 

 

"Ya' didn't answer me Renet, what's wrong?" 

 

"I saw Leo in my dreams. He kept calling out for my help and he reached out his hand to me. We have to get to New York and fast. I got in touch with Lord Simultaneous and he said getting there is our problem 'cause I'm kinda in trouble for something..."

 

"What?" 

 

"Remember how I said I can't look into the future for you?" 

 

Shea nodded, she had a feeling about where this was going.

 

"I looked into my future 'cause I mean, I'm missing Leo way crazy right now and I only meant to check on him where he is but, I found something out that scares me a little and I dunno what's gonna happen. Like, I need Leo with me and he needs me and we're gonna be together again. But like, I gotta be careful with myself right now...I mean, I saw myself with no powers and Lord Simultaneous won't tell me if he takes 'em, if I screw up and lose 'em on my own or what. And, we totally need my powers right now more than ever. They might run out soon so, we’ve gotta hurry up with saving the guys..." Renet pounded on the window, "This sucks like, big time!" 

 

"Well, make up your mind. Ya’ gonna sit here and cry them big blue eyes out or what?

 

"I've totally made up my mind," Renet grabbed her duffel bag with the Time Scepter in it, "Wake up Raph and get in the car. Tell him how saving the guys is gonna work, he needs to know now so he can do it ASAP." 

 

"I'm up," Raph revealed his hiding spot, he was back in his riding suit, "Let's get outta here." 

 

* * *

 

Shea was in the backseat now as Raph was in the front seat, he was helping Renet do some odd wiring job to the car.

 

"Renet, ya' have the keys, why do ya' need me ta hot wire the car?" Raph already had the wires in hand but, he was curious as to what was going through The Timestress' head.

 

"It'll make sense in a sec," Renet turned to Shea in the back seat, "Hand me my bag, Shea." 

 

"Here ya' go," Shea gave Renet the duffel.

 

Renet opened up the bag, grabbed the Scepter out of it and turned back to Raph, "How are the wires?" 

 

"Almost..." Raph finally got a spark, "Got it!" 

 

Renet put the Time Scepter's top end up to the wires and it began to glow, her eyes went the same color as the glow, "Scepter, c'mon get us to New York, to where we have to be, hurry." 

 

* * *

 

"Here we are," Renet sighed in relief, so happy that her plan had worked, "I really hope April's awake." 

 

The car was now parked right in front of April's store, the Scepter really had been helpful.

 

"Shea, ya' alright back there?" Raph turned to look at her.

 

"Pretty much..." Shea leaned forward, she had forgotten never to time travel on an empty stomach, "What time is it anyway?" 

 

"7 A.M." Renet started to get out of the car, "C'mon, let's go!" 

* * *

 

"Raphael," April gave him a hug upon opening the door to let him in, "I've missed you!" 

 

Raph hugged her back, "I've missed ya' too April. Where’s Casey?"

 

"He went down to get Splinter. Please, come inside," April ushered the trio inside. 

 

Familiarity, that was the strongest feeling Raph felt right now. He'd lived in April's place before and he and his brothers were over all the time and then Casey started living with her and they were over almost even more than usual.

 

"Raph, I didn't explain to ya' what's gonna go down tonight," Shea's voice was barely that above a whisper. Thankfully, April and Renet were in the kitchen.

 

"I ain't ready for this shit tonight," At least Raph didn't feel ready and he knew that it was urgent but, he didn't feel good about it at all.

 

"Yeah you are! You're damn good and ready 'cause you're stronger than ya' think. Ya' heard what Renet told me and how Leo was callin' her for help. The sooner we go and save him and the others the better." 

 

Taking a breath, Raphael knew that she was right. Tonight was the night he'd save his brothers. "What am I doin'?"

 

"Renet and me gotta go ta the closest point ta where your brothers left this world, then you gotta bring in Karai 'cause she killed 'em and ya' gotta pull 'em outta The Realm of Dreams and then the four of y'all can take down Karai together. Remember the whole, where there's death there's always gonna be death thing?" 

 

"Yeah, what about it?" 

 

"We're hoping that death is gonna be Karai." 

 

Raph nodded, "I got one question."

 

"Ask away, Boo."

 

"How am I s'posed ta pull my bros outta The Realm of Dreams?" 

 

"You'll see," Shea smirked, "And trust me, it'll be pretty damn obvious when the time comes." 

 

"Here's hoping."

 

* * *

 

When Casey arrived with Master Splinter, all fell silent. 

 

Shea was on the couch sitting by Raph and she felt Raph holding one of her hands tightly for support. The atmosphere didn't become tense but, it became less than relaxed, assuming it had been anywhere near relaxed to being with. 

 

"Casey, why don't we step out for a bit? Renet, Shea, you should come with us," April led the way out. 

 

"Okay..." Casey looked back at Raph as to say sorry for not sticking around.

 

Renet said nothing and she stopped at the door waiting for Shea to leave Raph's side.

 

"Good luck," Shea whispered as she quickly ran to the door. 

 

* * *

 

Master Splinter and Raphael were all alone now.

 

Raph stood up from where he sat, walked over to Splinter and then fell down to a kneeling position, "Forgive me, father..." 

 

"Raphael," Master Splinter placed a hand on Raph's shell, "I hold nothing against you. Though I caution you, my son. You must forgive yourself, forgive the situation, and realize that the situation is over. If you do not, you cannot move forward. If you cannot move forward then you will be of no help to your brothers."

 

The tears in Raph's eyes fell. He was still angry at himself as much as he'd put it aside. No matter how much letting it out on the beach back in California had helped him, there was still that one piece of him that was angry and Splinter got right down to it. He knew, he'd probably known the whole time, “I can save 'em Master Splinter. I know I can!" 

 

"As do I my son, I have much faith in you." 

 

* * *

 

"And here it is," Renet was thrilled to have reached The Lair.

 

"So, Raph, Splinter and his bros live down here...willingly?" Shea asked.

 

"Uh...yeah, why do ya’ look so surprised?" Casey raised an eyebrow.

 

"Never mind...April, what'dya need from down here?" Shea changed the subject. 

 

"Some notes Donatello has on Super Solider DNA," April made her way over to Don's computer, "There was a jewel heist last night and apparently there was a scuffle between some of the Foot Clan and some Purple Dragons. Karai showed up to save her Foot Soldiers and from what we've heard, she's been hitting the juice and hard." 

 

"And that means we have to like, stop her from getting stronger, right?" Renet asked making sure.

 

"Exactly!" April nodded.

 

Casey sat down on the couch, turned on the TV and started to flip through the channels.

 

"They get cable down here?" Nothing about The Lair ceased to amaze Shea at this point.

 

"Yep. But, c'mon, I wanna show you some stuff," Renet pulled Shea in another direction, "First, I gotta get something from Leo's room."

 

Shea followed Renet into Leo's room and watched Renet put on one of Leo's katana harnesses and then grab a pair of katanas off of the wall. 

 

"Ya' sure Leo ain't gonna mind you takin' his stuff?" Shea stood over by a dresser.

 

"Nope, I mean, I got him these swords and I'm gonna give 'em back when I'm done," Renet grabbed another pair of swords off the wall.

 

Although Shea didn't like to think of herself as nosy, she was a curious type and being so, she couldn't help but open up one of the dresser drawers. After all, only people with a great relationship let each other take each others things as they pleased, “Oh, Renet.” 

 

"Huh?" Renet turned to look at Shea.

 

"These are cute!" Shea held up a pair of panties that said 'Leo's Girl' on them, "Do they go with this?" Shea then held up a tank top that said 'Taken By Leo' on it.

 

"Shea, gimmie those," Renet grabbed them away from her, "Those are mine!" 

 

"If those are yours who do these belong to?" Shea pointed to an obviously open box of diaphragms, in other words, female condoms, in the drawer.

 

Renet was as red as tomato and she put her intimates back into Leo's drawer, "They're Leo's...he got them for me."

 

"Figured as much, box looks close to empty..."

 

"Shea!" 

 

“Renet, ya' know I don't mean no harm.” Shea put her hands up in defense, "So, where's Raph's room?"

 

"Why? Did you wanna go through his things, too?" 

 

"No, we ain't that close yet. But, I noticed he's almost new ta sleepin' in a bed..." That was something that had been eating Shea for a while now.

 

Renet giggled, she already knew why that was, "Then follow me."

 

The Timestress led the way to Raph's room, giggling the whole way, "Ta-da!"

 

Shea's eyes widened as she saw the hammock that was Raph's bed.

 

"Are you forreal right now?" 

 

"Totally one-hundred-trillion percent for real, Shea,” Renet crossed her arms.

 

"Yeah...I'm gonna buy him a bed,” Shea got out her cell phone to browse for a place to buy Raph a mattress.

 

"April," Renet yelled to her, "Bring Don's bag of tricks and a bo staff for him, I'm gonna go grab a pair of chucks for Mikey.” 

 

"Way ahead of you, Renet,” April answered her from where she was working. 

 

"Bag of tricks?" Shea was once again out of the loop.

 

"I don't have to like, back track and tell you who The Shredder is or was, right?" Renet hoped she'd only have to explain a little bit.

 

"Nope, Raph took care a that one." 

 

“Cool. So, Don's bag of tricks is awesome 'cause it’s a duffel bag full of like, anything and everything you could ever need in a fight, like ever.” 

 

* * *

 

Planning was crucial here. Planning, planning, planning. After looking closely at a map of Foot HQ, Raph was able to find the floor he and his brothers had last faced Karai on. 

 

This was now the decided upon point where Renet and Shea would make contact with The Realm of Dreams and use time reversal to open up a gateway and once Raph was back to them he'd pull his brothers out of that gateway.

 

 Raphael would have to lure Karai to where Renet and Shea were because Karai would be much easier to defeat once the other turtles were back. And even before that, Casey and Master Splinter would have to hit Karai with the Super Soldier DNA antidote that April had whipped up. This would ensure their victory.

 

Casey, Master Splinter, Renet and Shea would break into Foot HQ first. April would have turned off the security system by then and once they were inside Foot HQ, it was Raph's job to slip inside and find Karai.

 

Everyone was currently gathered at The Lair, gear was on and they were about to split into their groups. Shea and Raph held hands and looked up at each other, this was really happening. They'd save Leo, Don and Mikey once and for all.

 

"Be careful in there, Raph," Shea leaned into him as she hugged him.

 

"Shea," Raph lifted her chin up so she'd look at him, "I'm goin' in there alive and I'm comin' back out alive and with my brothers. You're gonna come back out alive, too.” 

 

"You're right but, that don't mean we can be reckless. Raph I..." Shea was silenced by a kiss from Raph.

 

"Ahem," Master Splinter walked over to them, "Forgive my interruption but, we must go." 

 

Shea nodded and looked up at Raph one last time before leaving with Splinter. Raph went to go find April. He figured that they weren't taking The Battle Shell.

 

* * *

 

Shea placed down her crystal ball. She and Renet were setting themselves up right where Raph had told them to be, the closest point to where he'd last seen his brothers. 

 

"Casey and Splinter got us covered right?" Shea asked putting both hands on the crystal ball to start up a test connection.

 

"Yep, and so does this," Renet waved the Time Scepter and a force-field came up around her and Shea.

 

"Good, now we just gotta wait on Raph ta lead Karai over here, Casey and Splinter can hit 'er with that antidote April made, and then Raph can get the guys out and it'll be another job well done for us." 

 

"You bet. Uh Shea, I wanted to ask you like what's gonna happen between you and Raph when this is all over? I mean, are you gonna stick around or...Shea?" Renet dropped the subject as Shea was no longer listening. Shea was wrapped up in a spiritual connection that was no longer a test connection, the very apparent change in her eyes made that clear.

 

The Timestress knew that this meant that her turn was next. Before leaving, she had tied the blue bandanna that she normally wore around her wrist onto her face, the way Leonardo wore his. 

 

Renet's heart swelled as her mind filled with thoughts of Leo and she tightened her grip on the Time Scepter, "Mighty Time Scepter, with your power over time and space open up the portal to the unspoken of place!"

 


	6. When A Plan Comes Together...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though the plan is about underway and coming together, there's a lot more than Shea bargained for under the surface. Is there something she didn't tell Raph? Regardless, will the plan actually be followed through and successful?

April handed Raph a hand-drawn diagram.

 

"What's this?" Raph wasn't quite sure.

 

"A diagram of Karai's new armor. From the piece Renet got for me, I was able to conclude that she gets juice pumped into her body from the shoulder blades of her armor whenever it looks like the effects of her last dose are going to end. The doses are on a timer which means her suit is very intricately designed but, also very flawed," April pointed out something on the diagram, "The timers only work right if they stay in place and we both know that Karai doesn't stay stationary in that armor of hers. So, the armor has a tendency to either pump out too much of the juice or too little. My antidote is prepared for either one. It’ll dry up the Super Soldier DNA coming into her system and it should reverse anything that the previous doses have done."

 

"Shoulder blades, I gotta remember that," Raph told himself, "I'm ready, April."

 

April lowered the helicopter just enough for Raph to swing out of it and onto a ledge of Foot HQ, "Security systems have been taken care of, we've pin-pointed Karai's location and if you need anything else, I've got you covered." 

 

* * *

Karai let out a roar. She had over-dosed on injections of Super Solider DNA but, by her standards, she was nowhere near an over-dose.

 

"I SAID MORE!" Karai grabbed Dr. Chaplin by his collar and threw him into a wall, she was much bigger than him now.

 

"M-Mistress Karai...I d-don't think it's a good idea to..." Chaplin stopped talking as Karai punched a large hole in the wall right next to his head.

 

"I do not pay you to think, Dr. Chaplin. You are paid to do as I say," She finally let go of him, "Now, let us try this again: I said more.” 

 

“Yes, Mistress Karai," Chaplin went to get a bigger tourniquet and a bigger needle.

 

"Yo, ugly," Raphael stepped out from behind the support beam he'd been hiding up against.

 

Karai turned around and growled at Raph. Having called Karai ugly was such a mild thing to say given the way she looked now. She was probably a bit larger than an over-sized gorilla, her skin had become red. This was an effect of mixing Utrom DNA into her injections. 

 

Her head no longer retained its original shape. It almost fully resembled Ch'rell's Utrom body. Karai's armor had to be re-designed to fit her new form almost constantly, especially since it pumped her full of more juice. The once temporary effects of the injections were starting to become permanent.

 

Raph jumped as Karai swatted at him. All she managed to do was knock over much of Chaplin's equipment.

 

"Ya' gonna hafta do better than that," Raph smirked as he started out of the room. He didn't have to look back to know that Karai was following him. The loud crashes through open doorways were a big enough hint. 

 

Raph slid into the room where the portal to The Realm of Dreams was being opened.

 

"Go, my son," Master Splinter gestured towards Shea and Renet with his walking stick.

 

Raph did as he was told and that was when Karai entered the room.

 

"Whoa..." Casey pulled the large water-gun filled with antidote out of his golf bag, "Is that thing...?" 

 

Master Splinter nodded and readied himself for any fighting that might ensue before actually being able to hit Karai with the antidote.

 

* * *

Though Raphael was thrust into the Realm of Dreams, he was still very much aware of the real world around him. He didn't have time to wonder about this right now. He could ask Shea about it later if he remembered. 

 

"Call for the guys, Raph," Renet instructed.

 

"In the order they were taken from you," Shea added.

 

Taking a breath, Raph was hit with the reality of how real this situation was. This was what he worked for 

 

"Don," Raph called for Donatello and he emerged from the Realm of Dreams and reached his hand out to Raph, he wasn't going get to where the real world touched the spirit world on his own.

 

"Pull him outta there!" The girls instructed.

 

Grabbing hold of Don's hand, Raph was able to free his younger brother from where he'd been trapped.

 

"Donnie, catch," Renet threw a bo staff as well as the magic duffel to Don.

 

Don caught both with ease and smiled in thanks at the Timestress and then turned to his older brother, "Thanks, Raph."

 

Raph put a hand on Don's shoulder, "Don't thank me yet, bro." 

 

* * *

 

Karai was hit with the antidote and she was shaking on the ground, her flesh burning and her form shrinking. The best part was that the shoulder blades on her armor were coming off and any spare injection sites were also being ruined. 

 

Renet was forced to strengthen the force-field around herself, Shea, Raph and Don. As Karai was struggling on the ground, three Karai Legions entered the room. As soon as those were down, more would show up.

 

"Mikey," Raph called for his youngest brother.

 

"Right here, bro," Mikey reached his hand out to Raph and he was pulled him back into reality the way Donatello had been. 

 

"Heads up, Mikey," Renet threw him a pair of chucks.

 

"More like heads down," Mikey caught one of his chucks but the other hit him in the head, he recovered quickly and then gave Raph a serious look, "Raph, you've gotta get Leo outta there, now!"

 

Raphael's eyes widened, was something happening to their big brother?

 

"Shea, what's goin' on in there?"Raph asked only to receive no answer. 

 

Shea's eyes had gone the same silver color as the glow of the crystal ball. She was much too wrapped up in the spiritual connection part.

 

"Raph, hurry it up," Renet practically felt her heart stop, she was very worried about Leo.

 

“LEO, GET OUTTA THERE!" Raph called for his eldest brother and as Leo reached his hand out, Raph quickly pulled him back into reality.

 

"I..." Leo fell to his knees.

 

"Easy, bro," Raph helped him to stand.

 

"Leo!" Renet ran to her lover and kissed him.

 

"Renet, ya' can make-out with Leo later," Raph was about to pull them apart.

 

"It's fine, Raph,” Leo insisted as he and Renet stopped kissing, "I feel much better now." 

 

Renet smiled as she took off Leo's katana harness and handed it back to him, "I think this is yours."

 

Leo accepted his katana harness and then bowed in thanks to Raph, "You are ready, Raphael."

 

"Ready fer what?"

 

"To lead us out of here." 

 

Smirking in triumph, Raph already had a plan, a leader did always have to have a plan, "Here's what we gotta do..."

 

Renet quickly closed the portal to the Realm of Dreams. Shea was still rather entwined with the crystal ball. Her eyes remained fully silver and the crystal ball's glow wasn't dimming any. What Renet did know for a fact was that Shea wasn't in the Realm of Dreams because if she was the portal wouldn't have closed.

 

* * *

Shea was observing a hearing in the 79th Level of Null Time that the spirit of her however many-greats-grandmother was having with Lord Simultaneous. At this hearing, Shea's fate was being discussed because of her disobedience regarding rules that she was supposed to have been abiding by.

 

"You let Renet save her lover did you?" Shea's grandmother, Elise, had taken on a physical form and appeared before Lord Simultaneous.

 

"The Scepter did and she didn't save Leonardo. His brother, Raphael, saved him," Lord Simultaneous corrected, "But, you're not here to discuss that."

 

"You're right," Elise nodded, "I'll get to why I'm here but, there's talk that Renet will lose her powers. Shea and I don't like hearing that talk."

 

"Elise, I've never lied to you and I'm not about to start now. Renet's powers will be lost but, only for a few months and they will return to her as its destined. I'll admit that I scared her into thinking the worst but, that was because she shouldn't have been looking into the future, accident or no accident, especially her future."

 

"I know..." 

 

"Now, tell me the real reason you're here," Lord Simultaneous knew, but he wanted to hear Elise say it.

 

"You see, I'm not a ghost in the traditional sense," Elise knew that Simultaneous was aware of that, "nothing is binding me to the world Shea calls her home, nothing at all. I stay around to help you, to help Shea help you and because I love her but, she needs to learn to do this on her own. I thought maybe she'd benefit from some personal training with you. Not to sound selfish but, I plan on finally going off and resting in peace..."

 

Lord Simultaneous nodded, he always knew this day would come, "She's ready."

 

"Yes she is. But, she needs much more training and perhaps a little training in using the Time Scepter wouldn't hurt."

 

"Elise, only an apprentice of mine is allowed to use the..."

 

"I remember us breaking that rule," Elise winked, "Anyhow, Shea knows what she must do. You and I both know she can see and hear us right now. She knows."

 

"I'm sure of it." 

 

“Now, the subject of breaking rules finally brings me to the main reason that I'm here: Shea has broken a rather large rule. Raphael was Shea's charge and she fell in love with him. She knew very well that she was breaking the rules. But, as we both know, people do crazy things when they're in love. If and when that love is strong enough, one is willing to take any punishment if only to ensure the safety of the one they love. As for Shea's punishment, I thought she would be punished the way I was and be forced to separate from her lover for the rest of time, be forever cursed to see the dead and to always save trapped souls even in death and only after training another in the saving of trapped souls ever have a chance at resting in peace. I did say that nothing binds me to Shea's world and for that matter, any world but I'm lying when I say that. Memories of the past, our past, bind me to different worlds though that's all they'll ever be, memories. Good ones though, very good ones."

 

"Better than good…” Lord Simultaneous turned away from her.

 

Elise was getting frustrated, "I don't want to see Shea go mad the way I did and have that ultimately kill her!"

 

"Are you sure that's what did it, Elise?"

 

"Not exactly…But, I don't think it's possible to die of a broken heart. Even so, I will not watch Shea die because of breaking a rule. However, she does need to learn a lesson and I think it's fair that she and Raphael be apart for a time, just the time that Renet is without her powers. And, in that frame of time, have Shea become your page of saving trapped souls full-time. If she and Raphael really are meant to be, they'll find a way back to each other."

 

Lord Simultaneous agreed with everything that Elise said but, there was something she hadn't said, "There's one thing you're forgetting. Shea fell in love and lust goes hand in hand with love. Raphael may have been able to make peace with his inner-demon but, that quelled inner-demon will be reawakened with the evil that is lust. If Raphael can defeat his inner-demon again then we'll know that Shea did her job despite breaking the most important rule of all. And, I’ll be willing to decrease her punishment."

 

"When will Raphael battle the reawakened demon?" 

 

"Now is as good a time as ever." 

 

"Now? Right now? When he's just reunited with his brothers and they're trying to..."

 

"I don't like to change the way things are destined supposed to play out. If not now, I will prevent Raphael and Shea from being together no matter what really is supposed to happen.” 

 

"No, you won't...you'd never do that. You have too big a heart to do that."

 

Looking away from her again, Lord Simultaneous blushed, Elise had him, "Fine, but this has to happen right now.”

 

Elise let out a defeated sigh. At least she'd gotten Shea a decent punishment. She didn't want to see this happen at all but, Elise knew that this was inevitable, "Shea, be prepared..."

 

"She will be, Elise. She’s strong like you."

 

Smiling once more at the Time Lord, Elise's form began to dissipate, "This is good-bye."

 

Forever, it was good-bye forever this time...

 

"Good-bye, Elise." Lord Simultaneous sighed, having lost the chance to do what he'd failed to do the last time they said good-bye.

 

* * *

 

The fight between the turtles and Karai was going well so far. The first part of Raph's plan was to switch up the weapons. He traded weapons with Donatello and he had Leonardo and Michelangelo trade weapons. This idea had stemmed from the fact that Karai knew their moves and sure, they'd always come up with new ones but, they needed to throw her off and this was the way to do so. 

 

Don and Mikey had been assigned to completely get the shoulder blades off of Karai. They might be falling off but, if Chaplin made his way into this room soon enough, he'd be able to fix them and possibly reverse the effects of the antidote. 

 

That left Leo and Raph to the main part of Raph's plan: Knock Karai down. She had managed to stand back up but, once she was down again, Raph planned to slice her open like a cantaloupe and rip out her heart! 

 

Well, not exactly...Raph needed her down once again and then they were going to have some serious words. Raph's concentration was near broken when a new batch of Karai legions entered the room.

 

"Great, just great," Raph was annoyed by this, but, he knew to roll with whatever was thrown his way, "A'right, Casey, you and Master Splinter take care of 'em. Renet, you help too and be sure ta protect Shea!"

 

Renet spun the Time Scepter around in her hand and created a new force-field around Shea and then used the Scepter like a baseball bat to take down a Karai Legion.

 

* * *

 

"Take that," After a pretty rough struggle, Raph finally had Karai on the ground once again. Though she appeared motionless, Raph had a feeling that this wasn't over.

 

"We got 'er," Mikey chimed only to be silenced by Raph shooting him a glare as means to shut him up. 

 

"No, no we don’t. Switch weapons again. Mikey, you switch with me and Don switch with Leo," Raph wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next but, he knew that keeping their base plan of confusing Karai was a good idea.

 

As the turtles switched weapons again, a large robotic suit being controlled by Chaplin came bursting into the room. One of the large robotic arms picked up Karai and she was lifted into the center of the suit where reservoirs of Super Solider DNA hooked back into Karai's limbs and she regained consciousness.

 

"Foolish turtles. I will defeat you and you perish once and for all!" Karai was convinced that she was intimidating the turtles and company.

 

"Don, think ya' can break that thing?" Raph turned to his genius brother.

 

"I can try," Don started towards the mechanical monstrosity. 

 

"Leo, Mikey, keep Karai busy, I'll..."

 

Before Raph could finish, he was cut off by a scream that came from Shea. Shea's hands gripped the crystal ball tighter than ever and the light in the crystal ball shot up like a lightning bolt and Raph was hit with it. 

 

Raph then grew to the size of Karai's robotic suit and his body was enveloped in the silver light, his eyes had gone full silver as well. In his mind, Raph was facing his inner-demon now resurrected all because of the feeling of lust.

* * *

 

_"You don't care about Shea, you never did...You only cared about what she could do for you and even if she didn't succeed in helping you to save your brothers, you would have stayed with her until you had your fill of her and then you would have left her like the true coward you are.” Raph's head was filled with the hellish lies his inner-demon began to spew._

 

* * *

 

"Renet, what is going on?" Leo asked, rather concerned for Raph who was now wrestling Karai's robotic suit. 

 

On the bright side, Raph was tearing apart the robotic suit as if it were a decrepit hand-me-down toy but, it was still pretty scary to see Raph in this state.

 

"I'm not sure. All I know is that Shea has something to do with it and her mind's still not back so I can't like, ask her. Sorry,” The Timestress wished she could have been more help.

 

"The point is we're all alright but, everyone stay on your guard," Leonardo took a defensive stance. Anything could happen at this point and he didn't like those odds one bit.

 

* * *

_Raph let out a roar and tackled his inner-demon, "A'right, I'll give ya this: I didn't want nothin' ta do with Shea when I fist met 'er but, it didn't stay that way. She means a lot ta me and I know I mean a lot ta her. I ain't gonna let nothin' her hurt or my family, not ever! Ya hear me? Nothin' at all.”_

 

* * *

 

In reality, Raph tore Karai out of the robotic suit and threw her to the ground. She was dead before she hit the ground. Though, Karai had re-gained consciousness before the sudden re-introduction of the Super Solider DNA at max dosage which ended up clashing with the potency of the antidote. This had ultimately done her in. 

 

Dr. Chaplin made a run for it as Raph set in to crush the bottom part of the robotic suit. 

 

"You're so not getting away," Renet pointed the Time Scepter at Chaplin and made him freeze in place.

 

"You go, girl!" Mikey offered her a high-three.

 

"I'm just doing my job," Renet accepted the high-three which was possibly a high-eight because of Mikey's three fingers and her five fingers, "I totally wouldn't be that fast if somebody didn't teach me about timing," Renet winked at Leo.

 

"Is he blushing?" Mikey giggled, "Don, I think Leo is blushing." 

 

Don then joined in the teasing of Leo, "I think so, his cheeks are bright red."

 

Shea let out another scream and the crystal ball in her hands shattered and her eyes went back to normal. For now, she was going to ignore the excruciating pain coming from her hands, "Raph..."

 

Though Raphael was back to his normal size, his body was still surrounded by the silver light and he was making his way towards Shea in a threatening manner. 

 

"Shit!" Shea didn't have the strength to move right now and it looked like Raph was about to attack her.

 

"We can't let Raph..." Leo was about to jump in and save Shea.

 

"Leo, don't," Renet stopped him, "Don't. Just watch." 

 

Right when it looked like Raph was going to strike Shea, he fell to the ground a few inches from the now shattered crystal ball and the silver light faded. 

 

"You won, Raph. You won both battles," Shea whispered to herself and she pushed away what had been the bottom of the crystal ball and she leaned her head down onto Raph's chest.

 

"Is he?" Mikey asked thus silencing the whole room.

 

"He can't be..." Shea hugged Raph tightly, accidentally getting some blood from her hands on his upper-plastron, “C’mon, Raph. Say somethin, please?” 

 

“Sh…Shea…" Raph came to.

 

“Dammit, Raph…Don’t ever scare me like that again!” Shea buried her head into his shoulder.

 

"Uh, Shea, it’s kinda hard ta breathe with you on top a me." 

 

"Sorry, Boo," Shea got off of him and that was when Raph saw her hands.

 

"Donnie, get over here. Shea's hurt," Raph yelled for Donatello.

 

"I'm on it," Don ran over to the pair with gauze and disinfectant already in hand.

 

"See, Leo?" Renet linked arms with him, "Everything turned out alright."

 


	7. All Falls Down

The turtles were back in The Lair and it was around lunch time, they'd slept past breakfast time. They decided to order pizza and Shea and Renet had spent the night. Renet and Leo however, hadn't left Leo's room yet.

 

"Shea, you look pretty today," Mikey complimented her for what was probably the millionth time that hour.

 

"Fer the last time, Mikey. Shea ain't gonna buy you nothin'," Raph glared at his younger brother, knowing that was what Mikey wanted.

 

"Especially if ya' keep tryna' kiss my ass," Shea sipped her coffee.

 

“But, Shea, you bought Raph a whole bed." 

 

"Yeah only 'cause he used ta sleep on a hammock, he needed a bed. You don't, you have a bed." 

 

"M'kay, but," Mikey lifted up a magazine and pointed to a picture in it, "I need that deluxe gaming system."

 

"What ya' need is ta shut your trap before I make ya'," Raph was ready to lunge at his younger brother.

 

"No need for threats," Shea intervened, "Maybe if Mikey plays his cards right he'll see that game system for a major holiday or somethin' but, I ain't makin' any promises..." She then left the room.

 

Mikey's baby blue eyes were wide with hope and he looked at Raph, "Dude, marry her." 

 

Raph ignored him and followed Shea out of the room.

 

* * *

 

"Renet, get'cha ass up," Shea knocked on the door to Leo's room.

 

After a solid two minutes, Renet walked out of Leo's room, still in her pajamas, "Like, do you have any idea what time it is?" 

 

"Try one o’clock," Raph offered.

 

"In the morning?" The Timestress rubbed her eyes.

 

"Afternoon," Shea clarified, "Now pay up." 

 

Renet walked a little closer to Raph and put a hand over his empty eye-socket, "This is gonna hurt a little." 

 

"Shea, what's she..."

 

Raph was ultimately silenced by the pain he felt from Renet's hand. He opted not to cry out and when she finally let go of him, something was very different, "What'dya do?"

 

"Ask Shea," Renet walked back into Leo's room and shut the door behind her.

 

"Well?" 

 

"Just take a look, Patchy. I mean, I don't even think I can call ya' that anymore," Shea held up her compact mirror for Raph.

 

"I...I got two eyes." 

 

"Ya' sure Donatello's the genius in the family? 'Cause pointin' out the obvious like that you're gonna give him a run for his money."

 

"C'mere, ya' wise-ass," Raph pulled her into a hug as to say thanks.

 

* * *

 

"What was that about?" Leo asked as Renet made her way back into bed with him.

 

"I reversed time on Raph's missing eye, now he's got both again," Renet sighed as she lay back against the pillow, "Did you know that it's one in the afternoon?"

 

"It can't be," Leo sat up and opened his shell cell to see the time, "I thought it was much earlier than that..." 

 

"Me too but, I guess we didn't notice 'cause we totally didn't get much sleep last night," The Timestress winked at him, "I'm really glad you're back." 

 

"So am I," Leonardo put an arm around her, "There was something I'd been meaning to ask you."

 

"What?"

 

"Is something wrong?" 

 

"Why?" Renet was a bit confused by his question.

 

"Because when I was stuck in The Realm of Dreams I felt that something was wrong. That's why I kept my distance. I thought that if I didn't, something would happen to you. That worry wore me down quite a bit. That was why I was so weak when I first came back."

 

"When I went to check how you were doing in the Realm of Dreams I looked into our future but, it was an accident. Totally an accident and I don't even remember a lot of what I saw 'cause Lord Simultaneous majorly flipped and wiped most of my memory of it. All I know is, I’m gonna lose my powers one way or another and I dunno if I'm ever gonna get 'em back," Renet sounded like she was about to cry.

 

"It's going to be okay, Renet," Leo pulled her closer and hoped that he could find a way to comfort her somehow.

 

* * *

Raphael had to take care of some things so, Shea ended up hanging out with Donatello and Michelangelo. Raph had something special planned for Shea tonight and was taking care of the final details. 

 

Only Don and April knew anything about it. They had helped him with much of the last minute preparations. Though, more of Don's job was to keep Shea busy. 

 

It was roughly ten o'clock when Raph was done with his errands and Mikey and Don were going on about something while Shea was intently listening.

 

"Are you bozos tryin' ta scare my girl away?" Raph sat down next to Shea on the couch and could only imagine what Mikey and Don had told her or were in the process of telling her.

 

"Now why would we do that, Raph?" Mikey started to laugh so hard that he knocked over the bowl of pop corn next to him and spilled said pop corn all over Don.

 

"And Mr. Smooth has made his move," Don sighed as he stood up and dusted the pop corn off of himself.

 

"Don and Mikey were just tellin' me 'bout some tournament y'all went to called The Battle Nexus," Shea was still rather interested, "Mikey was startin' ta tell the story about the match he had with you, Boo.”

 

Raph shot Mikey a glare, "Don't finish the story."

 

"I didn't mention your humiliating defeat..." Mikey said that on purpose, “Whoops!" 

 

Shea laughed, “So, Sunshine here kicked ol' Patchy's shell?" 

 

"He was runnin' his mouth and I got distracted," Raph got defensive.

 

"Why don't y'all have a rematch?"

 

"Rematch?" Mikey didn't like the sound of that, "Been there, done that. And, that was after I got named champion. Rematches are so not my thing." 

 

"That mean ya' scared of your big bro?" Raph smirked and pounced on Mikey.

 

"Not fair," Mikey tried to pry Raph off of him.

 

"They always like that?" Shea looked at Don.

 

"Yes," Don nodded, "Well, on good days."

 

Mikey and Raph knocked over a lamp thus ending their squabble. Raph walked back over to Shea and held a hand out to her, "Let's get outta here." 

 

"Where we goin'?" Shea took his hand.

 

"You'll see. Get that ridin' suit a yours on." 

 

* * *

 

Renet was pacing back and forth around Leo's room while Leo was meditating. 

 

The Timestress was in a panic because a simple stress ball had been tossed in the air, she stopped it with time manipulation but, it didn't stay frozen in the air like it should have. 

 

She was very worried and though Leo wasn't letting on, he was as worried as well.

 

"Leo, could you throw that ball in the air again? I wanna try one more time," Renet looked over to him.

 

Leonardo opened his eyes, grabbed the stress ball on the ground and threw it in the air. The minute it hit the air, Renet put out her a hand and a faint blue light shot out and stopped the ball in mid-air for a split second and the ball fell to the ground.

 

“No, no…” Renet curled up on the bed.”

 

Leo was holding her now, "Renet, I'm sure it's..."

 

"I can feel my powers fading now," She grabbed on tight to Leo, "I'm scared." 

 

"Don't be. Maybe Shea knows something that we don’t? I’ll go and get her."

 

"Thanks, Leo."

 

* * *

 

Shea was currently blindfolded. Raph hadn't spilled anything about where he was taking her. She'd kept trying to get clues out of him but, she had no luck in doing so. 

 

All Shea knew was that Raph was pulling her along and until he gave her the okay, she'd have to keep the blindfold on.

 

"Can I take it off now?" Shea asked, finally getting to the point of not being able to stand this anymore.

 

"Not yet," Raph then placed something in her hands, "Hold onta that, okay?"

 

"Do I really got a choice?" 

 

"Nope," He walked behind Shea and started to untie her blindfold, "Here it comes, Shea."

 

With the falling of her blindfold, Shea was met with a bouquet of roses in her hands and looking past the bouquet of roses, she saw a birds-eye view of New York City, "Where we at, Raph?"

 

"Shea, welcome ta the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building," Raph took to watching Shea as she looked down at the city.

 

"And ya' got me roses? Aww, ain’t you a little corn ball!” Shea laughed, "Really though, Raph,who told ya' ta get me flowers?"

 

"I ain't the sentimental type, ya' know that. April said somethin' about flowers and it sounded like a good idea." 

 

"How come they're in such good shape? I mean, we came on your bike..."

 

"Unless ya' knew where ta look ya'd never be able ta spot a ninja. And, blindfolded? Forget about it,” Raph smirked, very proud of his secret way of having gotten the flowers to her in tact. 

 

"Who dropped 'em off?" 

 

"Guess."

 

"It was Don." 

 

"Ya' got it. Way ta go, Capp’n." 

 

"Either way, I'm impressed, Patchy. I mean it," Shea kissed him, "I never been here before."

 

"Really, Capp'n? Ya' lived here fer a while and ya' never went ta The Empire State Building?" 

 

“Yeah, I mean, we moved around a lot and all I got from here was some of my way of talkin'." 

 

Raph wrapped his arms around her and they continued to stare out at the city.

 

"Shea?" 

 

“Yeah, Raph?"

 

"Ya' got somethin' else from here now too..."

 

"What's..." Shea realized that the 'something else' was Raph, "Never mind."

 

Although she was enjoying the closeness with Raph, Shea was also hit with the realization that leaving Raph, especially after he'd gone out of his way to do something special for her was going to be near impossible. 

 

* * *

 

"Is Shea around?" Leo asked as he walked into the living room, "Renet and I need her help with something."

 

"Raph and Shea have been gone a while now," Mikey commented, "Don, where'd they go?"

 

Don lifted his goggles to look over at Leo, "They went to the Empire State Building and it's open until 2 AM. We all know that Raph is going to stay out as long as he possibly can." 

 

"Renet is...Renet?" Leo did a double-take upon seeing her, she was up and dressed.

 

"Hey, Leo. Uh, I was gonna go topside for some stuff...do you like, need anything? Donnie, do you or Mikey need anything?"

 

"Well, now that you mention it," Mikey started only to be promptly silenced by Donatello hitting him upside the head, "OW!" 

 

"We don't need anything. Thanks for the offer though," Don answered for everyone.

 

* * *

 

Raph and Shea were on his shell cycle once again and had started back for The Lair. Of course, that was when Raph began to stray from their initial path and pulled into an alley way. 

 

"Shea, there's some idiots causin' some trouble around here and if I'm not back in 20 minutes,"Raph had taken off his riding suit and helmet, "I've got the guys on speed dial on my Shell Cell, call one of ‘em, start my bike, and then hit the auto-pilot button. That's this one right here, let it take ya' back ta The Lair." 

 

"Fine," Shea was rather unamused at this but, then again, hand to hand combat wasn't her thing, "Be careful, now.”

 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

 

* * *

 

Renet was sitting on the roof of April and Casey's place, she didn't have anywhere else to go. What she needed topside was a chance to talk to Lord Simultaneous one on one. 

 

She had the Time Scepter with her and with her powers pretty much depleted, contacting Lord Simultaneous even with help from the Scepter was difficult.

 

“Aw, c’mon," Renet proceeded to drop the Time Scepter, "Totally not cool! That's like lesson number one, don't drop the Scepter…I’m not forgetting my training,” She picked up the Scepter, "LORD SIMULTANEOUS THIS IS SO NOT FAIR…ANSWER ME!"

 

Finally, a light came from the tip of the Time Scepter.

 

"It's about time!"

 

"Renet, this had better have a good reason behind it," Lord Simultaneous' projected image appeared before her.

 

"My powers are fading. Wanna explain why? And, if my powers are fading why haven't you come to like, take the Scepter back?"

 

* * *

 

Raph was thrown back into the alley and slammed into some trash cans, "Damn."

 

"Does this mean call your bros? 'Cause it ain't been twenty-minutes yet..." Shea walked over to Raph, she had his Shell Cell in hand.

 

"No need," Mikey smiled wide as he stepped into the light, "Our butt-kicking services are always available. Even on most holidays." 

 

"Raph, get up," Leo instructed,"We need to get back out there."

 

"Can I ask how y'all knew ta come here?" Shea was curious.

 

"'Cause we're that awesome." 

 

Don shook his head no, "Because I tracked your location via Raph's Shell Cell."

 

"Let's get moving," Leo led the way out of the alley.

 

* * *

 

Renet sighed in relief, "So, I'm not completely dead in the powers department?" 

 

"Your powers will return, just give it time,” Lord Simultaneous was repeating himself now. 

 

"I can't wait to tell Leo the good news. You totally want this back for a while right?" Renet held up the Time Scepter. 

 

"Send it with Shea, she leaves tonight."

 

"She what? Why would Shea be leaving she..." 

 

"I can't tell you everything, Renet. But, Shea must leave late tonight or early tomorrow morning. She’s coming to work for me for a time."

 

"How long is that time? Lord Simultaneous, I totally don't get why..."

 

"Renet, don't question me. But know this: you will be without your powers to protect a life that is not your own. As for Shea, her situation is different but, she's leaving to protect someone as well."

 

"Okay..." The Timestress was left rather confused but, more sad that Shea was leaving, "I'll send the Scepter back with her then...See ya’."

 

Lord Simultaneous' image disappeared and Renet started back to The Lair.

 

* * *

 

Shea sighed as she felt Raphael's arms tighten around her. He was still asleep and they were in 

his bed. She hadn't been able to sleep all night because she knew that she had to leave tonight. 

 

She wasn't allowed to reveal much of her reasons for leaving and that was a direct order from Lord Simultaneous. It had crossed her mind to disappear and leave Raph a note but, he deserved a face to face explanation. 

 

Leaning up, Shea put a hand on Raph's face, "Why did I hafta fall for ya', Patchy?" 

 

Not realizing that it was Shea's hand on his face, Raph who was still asleep started to swat at it subconsciously. That made Shea move her hand off of his face.

 

She then propped herself up with her elbows to still be looking down at Raph's sleeping face, “And, why do I gotta leave ya'? Wait, don't answer that part. I know why that is..." Shea leaned down and started to kiss Raph, not caring anymore if she was going to wake him, she needed to tell him as much of the truth as she was allowed to.

 

Raph sat up and managed not to break the kiss between Shea and himself. He kissed her for a while longer and then created distance between them, "Can't sleep?" 

 

"Not really...can we talk?" Shea almost couldn't look at him.

 

The words 'can we talk' were never good to hear used in conjunction like that but, Raph chose not to dwell on that for now, "What about?"

 

"I gotta leave New York..."

 

Raph cut her off, "Ya' miss Cali that much?" 

 

"I didn’t say that, Raph. What I'm tryna say is...I...I need some time."

 

"Time fer what?" Now Raph got defensive, Shea's need to leave and want of 'time' was coming out nowhere.

 

"Some time on my own, there's a lot I gotta do. And I mean, I wanna tell ya' exactly what it is that I gotta do but, I can't..." 

 

"Why, Shea? This ain't makin' no sense at all!" 

 

"I know but, ya' gotta hear me out. It’s not that I wanna leave, I gotta. It ain't somethin' I can control, I..."

 

"Who's controlling it?"

 

"What?"

 

"Who's puttin' you up ta leavin' me?" Raph grabbed his sais off of his nightstand, "Tell me who's throat I gotta slice open!" 

 

“Dammit, Raph! What the hell is wrong with you?" Shea scooted to the opposite end of the bed, "Ain't nobody puttin' me up to nothin’ and, ya' don't gotta kill nobody. This is my choice and..."

 

"And what?"

 

"I'm tryna explain this to ya' nicely and you won't let me."

 

"Shea, you're the one who ain't makin' any sense. Ya keep sayin' ya' need ta go and ya’ need ta be on your own…What does any a that even mean?" 

 

"It don't mean I'm leaving you, Raph. But, I'm gonna be gone a while and won't be able ta keep in contact..."

 

"Now ya' lost me. Ya' gotta leave, ya' can't talk ta me while you're gone, ya won't say how long you're gonna leave for..."

 

"'Cause I don't know that!" 

 

"Why not?" 

 

"'I-I can't tell you that. Look, I..."

 

"Ya' know what, Shea? I don't care! Just up and leave, prove ta me that ya' ain't any different from them girls in my past. There's the door, don't let it hit ya' on the way out," He gestured towards the door, got out of the bed and flung Shea's suitcase over to her, "That's why ya' had this thing packed huh?"

 

"Raph, please, don't be like this. I don't wanna go but, I hafta and I can't tell ya' why or nothin' but..." Shea had begun to defend her choice of leaving.

 

"Lemme come with ya'." 

 

“Ya' can’t. Like I said, I can't explain till later and ya' can't come with me." 

 

"What the hell are you hidin’, Shea?" 

 

"I..." 

 

"Yeah, there it is! Ya' ain't got nothin' ta say anymore."

 

"What's that s'posed ta mean?"

 

"I'll tell ya'," Raph had jumped to a conclusion, "Ya' think I'm a monster 'cause I almost attacked ya' the night we beat Karai and ya' realize you ain't that much of a freak so, ya' wanna take this chance ta get out while ya still..." 

 

"It's not like that at all, Raph!" Shea cut him off. 

 

But, Raph had chosen to ignore her completely, his machismo getting the better of him, “And, I bet it's killin' you that ya' lost your virginity ta a monster like me, ain't it?" 

 

"Raph...no...never, I would never think like that! You've gotta understand that there's so much I can't tell you. Boo, I..."

 

"No, Shea. No more Boo and no more nothin’. Ya' wanna leave? Then, get the hell out and leave!" 

 

"Ya know what? I will! Fuck you, Raph!"

 

"Ya already did, Shea!” 

 

Not even looking back at him, Shea grabbed her suitcase and walked out. 

 

* * *

 

Renet was walking with Shea now, they were in some tunnels a fair distance from The Lair.

 

"Shea, I don't wanna like, upset you but, everyone kinda heard your fight with Raph..." Renet looked down at the Time Scepter in her hands, "I don't wanna make you feel worse but, can I ask what happened?"

 

"Guess ya' can, Renet. I'm gonna make a long story short: I wasn't helpin' by bein' vague, he got defensive, I got defensive back, he jumped ta conclusions which I can't blame him for 'cause I didn't give him any reason not ta, we both said a lot a things we shouldn't have and now here I am, leavin'," Shea sighed in defeat.

 

She'd lost Raph but, it was better she lose him now than for the rest of time. Currently, she thought that now and the rest of time were one in the same. 

 

Shea doubted that Raph would even look at her again after that fight. Shea herself hated liars, she would have been much better off telling him the whole truth. 

 

Then again, she didn't want to disobey Lord Simultaneous. Sure, Renet did that all time but, Shea had her grandmother's reputation to uphold. 

 

“Uh-huh. I mean, I dunno what to say," Renet handed her the Time Scepter, "Lord Simultaneous said he'll open up a portal for you whenever you're ready." 

 

Shea gripped the Time Scepter tightly and nodded, "Thanks, Renet." 

 

"Did you want me to stay till you're ready? 'Cause I'll totally stay, I don't mind.”

 

"It's cool, Renet. I'll manage."

 


	8. Aftermath and Fading Anger

Silence, what a concept. Raphael took silence as a gift in a sense. Everyone had heard his fight with Shea and as not to set him off, they were being quiet about the whole thing. 

 

But, since Shea had left , Raph had to get out of The Lair. That had been before the mode of silence fell over The Lair and everyone in it.

 

"Raph, where are you...?" Leo had tried to ask.

 

"Out," Raph said nothing else and left. 

 

It wasn't like Raph had gone missing after that or anything but, he was almost never in The Lair. If he was, it wasn't for very long. He’d come back at all hours of the night or early morning. 

 

Not even Master Splinter confronted his  hot-tempered son about this. It was Raph's way of coping with his anger and it wasn't hurting anyone so, why interfere? Then, the gaps between Raph's time in The Lair and time away got bigger.  

 

He'd be gone for days at a time but, when he did come back around at least he'd been able to obtain some kind of 'share-worthy' info about The Purple Dragons, what was going on with The Foot Clan now that Karai was gone and sometimes, he had info about both. 

 

Going back to his Nightwatcher persona had crossed Raph's mind several times by now. But, there were several problems with that idea. 

 

The main problem being that his helmet was retired and in the trophy case in The Lair. If he took it out of the trophy case it'd be obvious that it was in use once again. 

 

The next problem was trying to stay hidden from his brothers. He hadn't meant to draw so much attention to himself when he had when he first started 'night-watching' and, if he re-surfaced all of a sudden the media storm would be insane. 

 

Plus, then there was the whole 'risking the safety of the family thing' and if he screwed up he couldn't talk Renet into doing some time reversal because her powers were currently gone which was a whole different issue that he didn't want to know anything about and not to sound completely cold, but, Raph didn't care about it either. 

 

Therefore, Raph kept to flying mostly solo without going back to 'Nightwatching' and he finally wasn't taking orders from anyone but himself and that felt great. 

 

As of right now, he was blowing off some steam with Casey. They'd gotten a tip from Casey's contact about what was happening since Karai had kicked the bucket. 

 

Raphael was named Karai's killer. Technically, he hadn't killed her but, either way, the first goon to bring Raph to Hun would gain quite high status within The Purple Dragons.

 

Hun wanted Raph alive so that he could kill the turtle himself and then mount Raph's head on his wall. That would show everyone that he was a force to be reckoned with and thus further gain power among the city's gangs as if he wasn't in incredibly high standing already. 

 

Right now, Casey and Raph were trying to find some dragons and knock any information out of them that they could. A group of three young women all sporting purple dragon tattoos ended up not too far from their hiding spot. 

 

"Little girls with guns," Raph scoffed as he saw the women and knew that they wouldn't be getting any info out of them, "Guess Hun's really makin' some budget cuts, huh?" 

 

"They ain't any old broads, Raph. They know how to tote those guns," Casey knew more about those girls than Raph did, "Remember my contact said that Hun's got some new recruits?" 

 

"Yeah, so?"

 

"So, they're some of 'em and we shouldn't go runnin' at 'em." 

 

Hearing those words, Raph quickly came to a realization, "Shit!" 

 

"What?"

 

"They're decoys, get down," Raph pushed Casey down and ducked down himself as the broads with guns shot in their direction, "They're trynin' ta draw us outta hiding, they know we're here."

 

Once the women ran out of ammo, they dropped their guns and ran. Leaving Casey and Raph very confused.

 

Raph gripped both his sais tightly, "There's gotta be more of 'em around here." 

 

Casey looked down at the ground and saw that there were no bullets left behind, "Raph, they were shootin' blanks at us." 

 

_Blanks_? Raph growled angrily at that. He'd been right about those women just trying to draw him and Casey out of hiding.

 

If Hun was going to show his face, he better damn well show it soon!

 

"Surprise," Hun showed up after all, while he appeared unarmed, he wasn't alone. 

 

At Hun's right, was a woman that looked similar to the ones who had shot the blanks. But, she wasn't one of them. Her dragon tattoo was much bigger and took up most of her leg. It was easy to see this because of how short her skirt happened to be. 

 

"Guess nobody told ya' this wasn't a double date," Casey charged at Hun, hockey stick first.

 

“Now, Cha Cha," Hun let himself get knocked into a brick wall by Casey, what was he planning?

 

Cha Cha, the woman Hun had brought with him pulled a small blowgun out of her boot. She blew into one end and a dart shot out of the other end at Raph. 

 

"Damn," The dart grazed the tip of Raph's shell by his shoulder. 

 

Thankfully he hadn't been hit but, he knew that Hun and Cha Cha definitely had more darts on them.

 

* * *

 

Michelangelo had his headphones on and took to surveying The Lair. 

 

Leonardo and Renet were on the couch watching TV and Donatello was fiddling with the gaming system because it had started to smoke a few hours ago and it certainly had no business doing that.  

 

Everyone was at ease and since Raph was out with Casey, Mikey took this chance to bring up something that had been eating him for a while now.

 

"Hey, guys?" Mikey took his head phones off, "Do you think Raph's really okay?"

 

Everyone turned to look at Mikey and they froze, not saying a word.

 

"Yeah, that's what I thought..." The orange banded turtle sighed in disappointment. 

 

"Speaking of Raph, he's been gone a while. Not that it's out of the ordinary for him to gone for long stretches of time but, he is with Casey," Leo stood up and dialed Raph's shell cell, "Raph, answer." 

 

"Maybe he's just not picking up 'cause he see that it's you, Leo," Mikey tried to make light of the situation but, he had a point.

 

"Let me try," Don then dialed Raph himself. 

 

* * *

 

"Sorry, sweetheart," Raph dodged yet another dart , "Ya' ain't gonna get me that easy." 

 

Cha Cha then smirked at Raph and the split second that confused him for was enough for Hun to throw Casey into Raph and then accept the tranquilizer gun from Cha Cha.

 

"Casey, get outta the way," Raph pushed Casey off of himself as he was struck in the neck with a dart, "DAMN."

 

"Raph," Casey started to get up.

 

"Stay down, Jones," Hun glared at Casey, snapped his fingers and that had Cha Cha pointing a gun at Casey's head, "Stay down." 

 

"I hope that doesn't apply to us," Leonardo jumped onto Hun's shoulders and clapped Hun's ears. 

 

"How does Leo make a line like that work?" Mikey was rather disgruntled by that. 

 

"Worry about that later," Leo then flipped off of Hun's shoulders, “Donnie, go tend to Raph and make sure Casey's okay, too. Mikey, with me.” 

 

* * *

 

Light stung Raph's eyes like fire and he kicked at the first silhouette that he saw.The Purple Dragons must have gotten him and they were probably going to cut him open but, if so, why wasn't he tied down?

 

"Raph, it's me, Don," Donatello backed away from his brother, "You're okay, you're at home." 

 

"Huh?" Raph's eyes finally adjusted to the light, "I...I am?"

 

"Yes. It took a while but, you're alright now." Don confirmed this fact.

 

"And Casey?"

 

"He's at home with April. We made sure he got there safe."

 

Raph let out a sigh of relief and he lay back more on his shell, coming to find that he was in his bed, "What was in that dart?"

 

"Nothing that would have killed you but, I did find traces of The Super Solider DNA concoction that Karai had..."

 

"WHAT?"

 

"Raph, relax. I used April's antidote to make sure nothing hurt you. Then April and I broke into Foot HQ and took care of any unused Super Solider DNA injection fluid." 

 

"Relax, right..."

 

* * *

 

 

Announcement was a word that Raphael now hated. 

 

A month ago, Michelangelo had found this mutant cat girl on the way home from a night of Turtle Titan activities, her name was Clawdia. 

 

She had a broken ankle and Mikey'd brought her home so that Don could treat her hurt ankle. Another month would pass when Mikey and Clawdia would announce that they were officially an item, as if everyone in The Lair hadn't known they had a thing going already...

 

The next announcement took about three or so months to happen. After all, getting to said announcement had been anything but drama free. 

 

Donatello had gotten himself a girlfriend after she'd almost gotten Don and everyone else all killed by the Purple Dragons. It's never a good idea to piss off the Dragons especially when you're one of them, even if you're not one of them by your own choice. 

 

Eve, that was her name, was promptly dismissed because her ex-boyfriend's older brother had agreed to take her place in the PD's. 

 

Don forgave Eve for everything and it helped that she was incredibly sorry about ever putting everyone in danger. Raph only knew Eve's name because of Casey. 

 

Eve had grown up with Angel, and Casey had kept an eye on both girls when they were kids. 

 

Don and Eve's big announcement was that they were moving in together and more specifically, they were moving into April's basement apartment which she'd personally offered to them when Eve lost her job (because the PD's had blown up where she worked) and thus she had to move out of her apartment because she could no longer afford the rent.

 

But, the announcement that had solidified Raph's hatred for the word, had come somewhere between Mikey and Clawdia's courtship and Don moving in with Eve. 

 

It had been on a night like any other, the turtles had gone out, kicked some butt and now that they were home, each turtle went off on his own.

 

Raph went to go ice his shoulder, he'd been getting pretty reckless lately and it had finally caught up to him. 

 

Don was packing things to take to Eve's place, now his and Eve's place. While Mikey had decided that he would try and show Clawdia how to play Call of Duty because then instead of the typical girlfriend getting pissed off at her boyfriend for playing, Clawdia could get mad at Mikey for not playing because they'd need to play as a team.

 

However, this was proving to be difficult when Clawdia, still not used her paws, was having a lot of trouble getting a grip on the game controller. 

 

"Don't tell me you busted up your shoulder, _again_ ," That was Leo's super condescending tone. 

 

"Ain't no 'again'. It's a little swollen, not busted up. Maybe since ya' study anatomy so much with The Time Bimbo, you'd know that," Raph was half expecting Leo to punch him in the mouth and half expecting himself to punch Leo in the mouth.

 

"If you must know, Renet's powers returned to her and she had to leave this morning to attend to her job as Timestress. Maybe if you spent a little less time being angry at everyone all because of the situation with Shea..." The comment about Renet had made Leo angry. 

 

"That is enough out of both of you!" Master Splinter got in between them, making it very clear that they drop such a thing or face the consequences.

 

 

 

* * *

Casey poured Raph another shot of Whiskey, "Drink up, pal.”

 

Whiskey had really been helping Raph so far. He wasn't hurting from breaking up with Shea, no sir. 

 

He was preventing that from happening by all means necessary, whether it was getting too reckless while fighting topside if only to feel some pain later or getting numb enough from over-drinking.

 

Raph downed the whiskey and slammed the glass back down onto the table, thankfully enough he hadn't slammed it hard enough to break it this time, "Casey?" 

 

“Yeah, Raph?" 

 

Before Raph could say anything, he was cut off by a knock at the door to Casey and April's apartment, "Casey, April? You home? It's me, Eve." 

 

"What's up?" Casey opened the door for her.

 

"My old car is junk and the new one needs the tires put on. Don needed some help and he was wondering if you were around. Raph isn't so…Oh! Hi, Raph,” Eve waved to him, "Would you both want to come to help Don and I?" 

 

“Whatever," Raph shrugged as he quickly slipped into his disguise and walked out into the hall, “Ya' comin’, Casey?"

 

"Lemme get my tools.”

 

 

* * *

 

Shea held her head in her hands. She'd had bad hangovers before but, she’d never quite felt a pain in her head like this. 

 

It wasn't a sickness or stress pain, it was pain from spending much more time than she would have liked in a spirit realm. The realm hadn't been the Realm of Dreams. That place had been so much worse. 

 

At least The Realm of Dreams was pretty desolate. The place that Lord Simultaneous had made her get into contact with was full of gargoyles, screeching banshees, and vicious three-headed dogs. 

 

Shea knew right then and there that if she ever got a decent night's sleep ever again it would be a miracle. 

 

Right now, she was taking a rather unorthodox break. She was supposed to have tried to last five minutes in that hellish spirit realm without the spiritual connection being interrupted. She thought she had made it to five minutes when in reality she'd barely lasted two minutes. 

 

In fact, she'd lasted roughly a minute and a half. Lord Simultaneous told her to relax and then try again later. 

 

To relax, Shea folded the things in her suitcase and rearranged them by color, then by brand and then by fabric. Not that she'd be wearing any of these things…

 

Oh no, Lord Simultaneous had provided her with clothing ala The 79th Level of Null Time. Shea hated it but had no choice other than to wear it. 

 

After re-organizing her clothes in her suitcase over and over got really boring —not that it had been fun in the first place—Shea asked to be put on dusting duty by claiming that cleaning helped her to relax. 

 

However, Shea had two ulterior motives in this: The first was that she wanted to see just how tough Renet's dusting duties really were and her second ulterior motive was that she wanted to get close to The Orb of Hindsight and then she could check on Raphael. 

 

She'd been around when Renet checked on Leo with it and it didn't look that hard, all Renet did was shake The Orb of Hindsight and tell it to show her Leo. 

 

Therefore, Shea would shake the Orb of Hindsight and ask it to show her Raph, this was a rather well thought out plan if Shea did say so herself! 

 

"A'right Renet, woulda thought you was lyin' when ya said dusting everything in here could take years," Shea decided to break the silence in the room by talking to herself a bit, though, she hoped that this wouldn't cause her to talk to herself on a normal basis.

 

Passing where the Time Scepter as securely held, Shea knew that she was getting closer to the Orb of Hindsight. 

 

"Found ya’!" Shea walked up to the large pink glowing orb.

 

It was like a kick-ball-shaped lava lamp and with that image, Shea reminded herself that the Orb of Hindsight was fragile, _very_ fragile. 

 

Taking a breath, Shea kept envisioning what she would do. Pick up the Orb, ask for Raph, and look. Just a quick look, no more than a few seconds. Then she had to put it back and go about 'dusting'. 

 

Mustering all the courage that she could, Shea put both hands around the Orb of Hindsight and felt as if she'd stuck both her hands into an oven, "Ow!" 

 

She quickly pulled her hands her away and looked down at them. Her first thought was of the shards of the crystal ball that had shattered in her hands and it had scarred them badly. 

 

These scars were disgusting...she'd have to set up a consultation with a plastic surgeon first chance she got. Then again, maybe not. 

 

Either way, Shea knew that she had no chance at checking up on Raph, "Lord Simultaneous, I'm ready to go back to that creepy spirit realm.” 

 

* * *

 

"So, you're taking apart my old car...how is this going to happen?" Eve was watching what Don, Raph and Casey were doing from a safe distance away. 

 

"First we need to remove the hood. We won't get to the disassembling part for a while,” Don clarified.

 

"Yeah and then once we get the hood off we've gotta disconnect the battery, take it out, remove the radiator and the fan," Casey added, "Next goes the carburetor and air cleaner, the alternator belts, and the alternator..."

 

Raph continued, "And after that ya' gotta disconnect the transmission and exhaust system from underneath the car. Then we gotta disconnect the starter and drain the oil and transmission fluid. Donnie, we got somethin' ta empty that crap inta?"

 

"I'll get right on that,” Don finished putting another tire on Eve's new car, "Don't worry, Eve. We'll get the new wheels onto this car and you can leave before we get into the boring stuff."

 

Eve smiled in thanks. She had no clue what any of the things they had just explained to her meant but, she was thankful either way, “Thanks. I just really hope my job interview went well. I’m glad my car decided to break down after I got home.”

 

Raph brought another tire over to Don, resisting the urge to make a comment about Eve's car breaking down at all not being a good sign. 

 

* * *

 

Raph grunted as he fumbled with his lighter, this was his last cigarette left and he decided that he may as well use it now. He had very little desire to move, let alone head topside for more. 

 

Funny enough, Don's girlfriend, Eve was a smoker. Raph wasn't very fond of her at first but, they had a few not so bad conversations over a smoke and well, since Eve made Don happy, she couldn't be all bad.

 

Finally able to light the cigarette, Raph took a long drag on it. 

 

Here he was, alone in his room laying on the bed that Shea bought him...He wanted his hammock back but, it had been promptly thrown out upon the arrival of this new bed. 

 

“Damn,” He was at a loss for words, not that ever had very many to say, especially not to himself, but, the quiet atmosphere was quickly getting to Raph. 

 

That bubble of silenced was pierced by a knock at his door. 

 

"It's open,” Raph finished off his cigarette, he knew that whoever it was knocking on his door definitely wasn't sent by Leo. 

 

“Hey, Raph,” Don walked into the room with Eve close behind him.

 

" 'Sup?" Raph sat up as to not completely look like he was moping.

 

 

 

Eve answered, "Don and I figured you were getting lonely down here." 

 

"And...? 

 

"Here we are,” Don gave a smile, hoping to get at least a smirk out of Raph.

 

“Yeah, so? Am I s'posed ta feel special or some shit 'cause ya' came down here?" 

 

"We didn't wanna do this, Raph…" Eve turned back to the door, "Don, grab him!" 

 

"What the hell, Donnie?” Raph was caught rather off guard by his brother managing to disarm him and put him in an immobilizing hold. 

 

"This is for your own good, Raph,” Don pinched a pressure point on Raph’s arm.

 

"Mind sheddin' some more light on this?" Raph looked over at Eve. 

 

Eve's normally innocent smile turned a slight bit evil, "You need some fun and we’re going to make sure that you have some.” 

 

* * *

 

Raph opened up a beer and drank it in one gulp. Whatever 'fun' Don and Eve had planned for him certainly wasn't much fun right now. 

 

They'd all gone up to Don and Eve's apartment and now Eve was taking forever to get ready.

 

"She'll be right out,” Don sat down next to Raph.

 

"Yeah, I bet I'm gonna hear that again in half an hour,” Raph rolled his eyes.

 

"Suit up, boys,” Eve was ready and now it was Don and Raph's turn to get ready.

 

“Uh, Eve?" Raph asked.

 

"Yes?" She met his gaze.

 

The red banded turtle chuckled, ”The 80s called, they want their hair and clothes back.”

 

"You've been spending too much time with, Mikey,” Don shook his head.

 

Once Don and Raph were ready to go, everyone piled into Eve's car and she started to drive to their destination. 

 

 

* * *

 

"Where are we?" Raph asked as Eve parked the car.

 

"This is where I work,” Eve proudly stepped out of the car, "Raph, welcome to The Plain Edge: It’s anything but. And, since I'm an employee here we get a special privilege." 

 

"Which is?" 

 

Don linked arms with Eve, "We get our own karaoke room.”

 

"Karaoke? That's what kinda fun we're havin'? How is that any fun? I coulda..."

 

"You could have what, Raph? Moped around at home?" Don asked, "You're out of The Lair aren't you?"

 

“Yeah but, Donnie, even you know this is lame. Eve, you gotta know that, too. I mean, ya' work here,” To say that Raph was displeased was certainly a way of putting it lightly. 

 

Choosing not argue with Raph anymore, Don and Eve led the way inside. Once Eve shook hands with the hostess at the door, she, Raph and Don were taken to their private karaoke room.

 

"Eve, what do ya’ even do here?" Raph asked as Eve walked over to the karaoke machine.

 

"I'm live entertainment. I sing a little, get the crowd going and convince people to go up and sing karaoke,” Eve smiled at Raph, "Wanna try?"

 

Raph crossed his arms, ”No.”

 

"Eve, Raph probably can't sing at all,” Don teased, "Then again, there was that one time..."

 

"Don't even think about it!” Raph glared at his brother.

 

"And Raph was in a clown costume…" The genius turtle threatened to keep on

 

"A'right, a'right I'll sing,” Raph accepted the mic from Eve. 

 

* * *

 

Shea sighed tiredly as she made her way back into her house. The words 'never again' rang in her mind rather strongly.

 

Never again would she ever agree to work for Lord Simultaneous 24/7. 

 

No wonder Renet was so eager when it came to leaving The 79th Level of Null Time. 

 

Although Shea did strike up a deal with Simultaneous stating that in case of emergency he had every right to contact her for prolonged periods of work, she figured that no emergencies could happen the second she got back home. 

 

Home...It didn't feel quite like home anymore though. Her house was empty besides her. 

 

What was the good in that? 

 

She went straight for her bedroom, trying not to think of how much she was still reeling from her and Raph's break-up. That had been six months ago for crying out loud.

 

Taking off the ridiculous outfit Lord Simultaneous had provided for her, Shea slipped into something more comfortable, turned the AC to full blast and tried to sleep. 

 

She would manage to close her eyes for small segments of time but, she kept opening them to look over at her cell phone on her nightstand, all while knowing that she could simply open it up and dial a certain out of state number...

 

* * *

 

Back at Don and Eve's apartment, the night of originally forced fun had now come to a close. 

 

"Raph, come on,” Eve's eyes were pleading, "You know you had fun at karaoke.” 

 

Finally Raph's signature smirk was back where it belonged, "A'right, I did. But that’s only 'cause maybe I drank a little bit before we left." 

 

“Really, Raph? Because I recall you really getting into that last song,” Don started to laugh, "Wasn't he great, Eve?” 

 

"He sure was. With all of his head-banging and," Eve grabbed a hair brush that was lying around, slid onto her knees and hit a high-note, trying to imitate Raph, "I might be a singer for hire but, Raph, if you ever need a part time job singing let me know.” 

 

“Quit it,” Raph tried to hide how his smirk was turning into a smile. 

 

Eve giggled, "Really though, you don't have too bad a sound. It a very a rock type of sound and if you worked on it a certain way you could do some R&B. No lie, your singing voice is great.”  

 

Raph flipped his hood up as he was going to leave, “Thanks. And, thanks again fer tonight." 

 

* * *

 

 

Once Raph was outside, he quickly decided that to get back to The Lair.

 

 Though, he was going to take the route with the most detours that he knew. He needed air and more over, he needed to think. 

 

His shell cell was in his pocket and he could dial that so-called 'California girl' with the down-town New York manner of speaking after he thought about it for a of couple blocks.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited some bits and pieces, just letting anyone re-reading know.


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael and Shea are on opposite coasts now but, they've got one thing in common: each other on the brain. Will they drown in their thoughts or decided to act and attempt to fix the bridge they burnt?

** _A tornado flew around my room before you came_ **

** _Excuse the mess it made, it usually doesn't rain_ **

** _In Southern California, much like Arizona_ **

** _My eyes don't shed tears, but boy they pour when..._ **

 

 

Letting out a loud sigh, Shea sat up in her bed and leaned back hard against the headboard thus hitting her head. Though, she didn’t hurt very much at all.

 

What hurt was not having the man—er, turtle rather, that was like a bullet to her brain next to her in this bed. 

 

She surveyed her room and remembered when she'd first spent the night in here with Raphael. 

 

There was his name. It was like repeating a secret when she said his name to herself. 

 

Raphael: Raph, simply a shortened version of his full name. 

 

Then there was calling him ‘Patchy’ because Raph had been missing an eye when they first met.

 

Since Shea had called him Patchy, he’d taken to calling her Capp'n Hooker for a while. Once they got on better terms, he'd shortened it to Capp'n. 

Eventually, Shea convinced Renet to reverse time on that injury of Raph’s. 

 

Following the return of Raph’s eye, Patchy and Capp'n were no longer insults. They were now silly nicknames. Finally, Shea began to call Raph by the pet-name: Boo. 

 

Boo was a term of endearment. A term signifying affection, meaning that they were together. She expected Raph to be annoyed about the term ‘Boo’ but, he never objected or asked about it. He went right along with it.

 

Shea fanned herself to disperse her thoughts of Raph, the names she had for him and all. 

 

These feelings of being hot and bothered reminded her of the first time she'd let Raph into her room. She'd been embarrassed and had apologized for the disarray of her drawers by her vanity set. 

 

It hadn’t been a complete mess but, she had hoped that her room could have been in perfect condition the first time she let Raph into it. Though, Raph hadn't cared about the mess at all. 

 

The way he pressed her up against her door and kissed her after she kept apologizing for the mess had been more than proof of the fact that the mess didn’t phase him. 

When Shea would eventually see Raph's room in The Lair, she would learn that messes never got the better of the red banded turtle. 

 

With another sigh, Shea felt a near unfamiliar sensation. 

 

There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't place. Here she was, alone in her room inside of her over-sized house in California, a state with dry heat and she had the A.C. cranked as always, keeping it a brisk 60 degrees inside her home.

 

But, was that an allegory for something else? Did she keep it this cold inside her house because the inner-workings of her soul were an ice box? 

 

It couldn't be, she could still feel. After all, she'd felt things besides anger and distance, especially towards Raph.

 

Not being able to swallow this lump in her throat, Shea recalled what this feeling was…

 

The last time she'd cried she had been seven years old and it had been on the day her mother had died. 

 

From then on, Shea had resolved never to cry again—unless of course, she couldn't control the tears. 

 

She tried to blink them back and there was that pain again. Raph hadn't hurt her. Not in the least...she was the one that had hurt him. 

 

No man was worth tears and Shea wasn't crying over Raph. She was crying over the fact that she'd pushed him away. 

 

Some part of Shea had decided to leave Raph without any explanation for why she was leaving except for an attempt to claim that she didn't belong in New York and a need for time. 

 

 

** _I'm thinking 'bout you (Ooh no, no, no)_ **

** _I've been thinking 'bout you (You know, know, know)_ **

** _I've been thinking 'bout you_ **

** _Do you think about me still? Do ya, do ya?_ **

 

 

That Brooklyn accent, those eyes of pure gold, his smooth and emerald green skin. His shell, rough and commanding. 

 

Those genuine protective instincts and hot-blooded anger that ruled him, his sarcasm and wit sharp as his sais, and his touch…

 

His touch in a fight: swift and effective. Raph would always throw the first punch and make it count. 

 

While, Raph’s touch as a lover was a different world entirely. His touch was so soft, gentle, and considerate of what Shea wanted. If Shea said to stop, Raph would. He cared about what she found pleasurable and not. 

 

And not to mention, that mask of his could be reflected each and every part of him so fittingly in a silent statement of crimson. 

 

Hot, passionate, dominant, strong, chaotic, cocky, seductive and most importantly, fearless. 

 

While he mockingly called Leonardo that last one, it didn’t matter. Raphael was truly the one without fear because when fear did strike, Raph always charged in with a fighting spirit determined not to fail. He never accepted failure as a possibility but if failure did hit, he would never let it get him down. 

 

That was Raphael. Each and every little thing about him was what Shea missed. 

 

But, here she was in her big house with the surrounding stone fence. Well, her fence was technically a wall…

 

Either way, that wall kept everyone and everything out and away from her. 

 

If Shea wanted to be with Raph so badly, she’d have to scrap this love affair with the concept of distance. 

 

Why had she let her guard down only to destroy the breakthrough of having done so? 

 

Oh wait, there it was. 

 

Shea was never have supposed to have fallen for Raph. As punishment from Lord Simultaneous, they were forced to spend some time apart. Shea felt the need to lie and provide a vague explanation as to why she was leaving only for such a thing to explode into the big fight that had broken her and Raph up.

 

** _Or do you not think so far ahead_ **

** _Cause I been thinking bout forever, ooh_ **

** _Or do you not think so far ahead_ **

** _Cause I been thinking 'bout forever, ooh_ **

 

 

Freaks, they were both freaks. That initially made Shea soften up towards Raph with the unspoken knowledge that they knew what the other felt like on a daily basis.

 

Shea had never thought of having a long-term relationship with anyone. But, she wondered if she still even had the chance at that with Raph.

 

Raph understood her and if he needed to, he would give Shea a nice dose of reality which no one had ever quite done for her. 

 

As much as Shea seemed annoyed when Raph told her how it was, she appreciated it because he wasn't giving her special treatment of any kind. 

 

Raph didn't put her on a pedestal. In his eyes, they were on the same level and always would be. 

 

This fact made Shea want to be with Raph more than anything else. She was always just Shea to him and he was always just Raph to her which was more than fine. It was, dare she say: perfect.

 

Shea looked over at her nightstand and there was her cell phone. Sitting silently on the birchwood surface, not making a sound.

 

** _No, I don't like you, I just thought you were cool enough to kick it_ **

** _Got a beach house I could sell you in Idaho, since you think I don't love you_ **

** _I just thought you were cute, that's why I kissed you_ **

** _Got a fighter jet, I don't get to fly it though I'm lying down_ **

 

 

Raphael was kicking around a can, he'd been kicking this can around for a couple of blocks now. He was on his way home to The Lair but, he wanted to clear his head. So, he was taking a long way home.  

 

It was pretty late now, roughly midnight and he'd gone out and had a little fun with Donatello and Don's girlfriend Eve. 

 

Despite the fact that Don and Eve weren't all over each other the whole time, Raph still felt like he was third-wheeling regardless of having had a good time. Raph knew his Shell Cell was in his pocket and calling Shea had crossed his mind.

 

Normally, he wouldn't be mulling anything over like this but, he did need to think about it. 

 

In the last six months, Shea did always have a way of slipping into his thoughts. Something so simple as the Yankees playing the Red Sox had brought him back to thinking about Shea and how if she'd been around to see the game, she would have gone on about every little thing that the Yankees did wrong and how the Sox were going to beat them, no matter how the game itself really was turning out. Her hatred of the Yankees was kind of cute...

 

There he was again, reminded of Shea and using a word like _cute_! 

 

Warriors didn't use sissy words like that...they didn't use words period unless of course those words were spoken by their blades clashing. 

 

Shea had left of her own will. She shut him out, made excuses, and left with not so much as a solid explanation. Yet, she still consumed Raph’s thoughts.

 

What had Shea been thinking? That he only kissed her just to do it? That their flirtation had turned a little too strong and measly feelings were caught?  

 

Probably...Or something to that effect. 

 

Raphael sighed, recalling several words he wasn't so proud of having ever spoken:

 

"Ya know what Shea? I don't care! Just up and leave, prove ta me that ya' ain't any different from them girls in my past! There's the door, don't let it hit ya' on the way out!" He gestured towards the door, got out of the bed and flung Shea's suitcase over to her, "That's why ya had this thing packed huh?"

 

"Raph, please. Don’t be like this...I don't wanna go but, I hafta and I can't tell ya why or nothin' but..." Shea had begun to defend her choice of leaving.

 

"Lemme come with ya'!" 

 

“Ya' can't...Like I said, I can't explain till later and ya' can't come with me!" 

 

"What the hell are you hidin' Shea?" 

 

"I..." 

 

"Yeah, there it is! Ya’ ain't got nothin' ta say anymore!"

 

"What's that s'posed ta mean?"

 

"I'll tell ya'!" Raph had jumped to a conclusion, “Ya' think I'm a monster 'cause I almost attacked ya' that night when we beat Karai and ya' realize you ain't that much of a freak so, ya' wanna take this chance ta get out while ya' still..." 

 

"It's not like that at all, Raph!” 

 

But, Raph had chosen to ignore her completely, his machismo getting the better of him, "And I bet it's killin' you that ya' lost your virginity ta a monster like me, ain't it?" 

 

"Raph...no...never, I would never think like that! You've gotta understand that there's so much I can't tell you. Boo, I..."

 

“No, Shea. No more boo and no more nothin'! Ya wanna leave then get the hell out and leave!" 

 

"Ya know what? I will! Fuck you, Raph!”

 

"Ya already did, Shea!” 

 

With that, Shea left without another word.

 

How could he have been so...so...dishonorable? Raph knew that she must have had her reasons for leaving and he didn't even give her the chance to explain why she couldn't tell him, mainly because he didn't want to hear it! 

 

But, she certainly wasn't Miss Perfect either. Shea picked a bad time to bring up that she was leaving and if she had been more considerate of how that might make Raph feel, she would have done her best to explain. Maybe she'd started to think Raph's feelings for her were rooted in lust all because of one night but, if she knew him well enough, he wasn't like that! 

 

Raph kissed her because of the silent understanding of between them of what it was like to be outcasts, because of the way she'd welcomed him as more than a friend, because she kissed him first because he cared for her because it felt right and most importantly he wanted to! 

 

Why had Raph wanted to? Simple: because he finally thought he'd found someone different and deserving of an actual intimate encounter. They were both very much the bad guy when it came to the night of their break-up but, both of them were much too proud to admit it.

 

_I **'m thinking 'bout you (Ooh no, no, no)**_

** _I've been thinking 'bout you (You know, know, know)_ **

** _I've been thinking 'bout you_ **

** _Do you think about me still? Do ya, do ya?_ **

 

Those eyes two stones of onyx, her skin the milk chocolate he couldn't ever quite get enough of, the bright blonde hair that certainly wasn't hers but she acted as if it was, the arrogant rich girl he'd initially hated and came to care for more than he'd ever intended to. That was Shea in a nutshell but, Raph figured he could bet money on the fact that she certainly didn't think about him in this way.

 

After all, she wasn't that big freak so, why waste time on a green freak who lived in a sewer?

 

** _Or do you not think so far ahead_ **

** _Cause I been thinking bout forever, ooh_ **

** _Or do you not think so far ahead_ **

** _Cause I been thinking 'bout forever, ooh_ **

 

 

Raph was confused by this want to reconcile with Shea. _She_ left him! 

 

She left New York and she may not even have appreciated all the trouble he went through to plan their date at The Empire State Building. He wasn't a sentimental type and he never did those types of things for anyone and now that he had, BAM! 

 

Next thing he knew, she brought up a want to leave and they were over.

 

Now he was certain: Shea hadn't thought of him since she walked out of his life! She probably went on a shopping spree, took a trip to some foreign country and came back with some foreign whack bag who she'd drop like a hot tamale in not too long. 

 

Raph knew that he was once again jumping to conclusions and although Shea had money to blow it didn't mean she was going on spending sprees, she was smarter than that as much as Raph didn't feel like giving her that credit right now.

 

Then again, maybe Raph wanted to fix things with Shea so badly because he wanted another chance or at least a solid explanation of why she'd left in the first place.

 

Finally, as Raph was nearing the last turn before making it to The Lair, he had to make a choice. Call Shea or not. No matter his choice, he may as well look at Shell Cell.

 

** _Yes of course I remember, how could I forget how you feel?_ **

** _You know you were my first time, a new feel_ **

 

 

Shea had finally stopped crying. She’d opened up a bottle of cognac, hoping that if she downed it quickly enough it would really rush to her head and she would end up putting herself into a drunken stupor and falling asleep. 

 

But, she couldn't bring herself to drink very much of the bottle at all, if she was this torn up sober once her buzz wore off she figured she'd be in even worse shape. She sighed remembering that Raph implied that she thought of him as a monster, the monster who took her virginity. 

 

In all truth, Shea was glad that he'd been the one to take the gift she could only give away once. And then again, he hadn't taken it, she'd given it to him. Raph had asked her a good five times if that was what she wanted and each time she said yes and only after the fifth yes did their first time together happen. 

 

Not wanting to lose the magic in that memory Shea finally reached over to her nightstand, unlocked the screen on her phone and went to her contact list, unsure if she'd listed Raph under his name or one of the other names she called him.

 

** _It will never get old, not in my soul, not in my spirit, keep it alive_ **

** _We'll go down this road 'til it turns from color to black and white_ **

 

 

Raph dialed Shea but, what he didn't know was that at that exact moment, she'd dialed him as well and they had both gotten the others voice-mail. 

 

Convinced that his suspicions had been confirmed, Raph sighed and was about to throw his Shell Cell on the ground and then drive a sai through it when his Shell Cell started to ring again and it was the only non-New York number he recognized...

 

"Shea?" Raph answered her call.

 

"Hey Raph," Shea was so relieved that he picked up, "I really need ta’ talk ta’ you and explain everything...So, can we talk?"

 

Raph turned back away from The Lair, this would probably be a while, “Yeah, Shea. We can talk."

 

“First, I gotta tell ya' that I'm sorry for everything. I am!" 

 

"I'm sorry too, Shea.”

 

"And..." Shea paused and then got out of bed and started to rummage around her room for some clothes, "I get that there's so much ya' don't know 'cause I couldn't tell ya' at the time but I wanna tell you everything and I don't think tellin' you over the phone is gonna solve shit!" 

 

"What did ya' wanna do then?" 

 

"I'm hoppin' the first flight ta New York!" Shea grabbed her still packed suitcase, "Besides, ain't it late there?"

 

"The dark don't phase a ninja and late don't phase me," Raph could then hear her rummaging around her room, “Ya' packin' now?"

 

“ ‘Course I am! I mean, unless ya' ain't wanna see me. ‘Cause if ya' don’t, I'll get my ass back in bed and hang up I guess uh, if that's what ya' want. I don't wanna force myself on ya' now." 

 

"You're not but, tell ya' what. Why don'tcha explain ta me why ya’ left and then come out here?" The ball was in Raph's court and even Shea knew that.

 

"That's fair. So, there's somethin' I never told ya' before...It goes with how I help saved trapped souls. The people I help well, there’s a whole set a rules and I broke the biggest goddamn rule on that list and that's why I had ta leave. It was ’cause I had ta serve my punishment for breakin' that rule..." Her voice trailed off, she wasn't proud of having left.

 

"What was the rule?"

 

"I wasn't s'posed ta fall in love and I did. I fell in love with you, Raph. And the way I left, the fight we got inta...I understand if ya' don't feel that way all 'cause of how stupid I acted and..." 

 

Raph took this chance to cut her off, "Shea, 'bout how long does it take ta fly from LA ta NYC?"

 

"Five or six hours, why?" 

 

"You gonna land at LaGuardia?" 

 

“Probably. Raph, what are you tryna...oh..." Shea had been so wrapped up in apologizing that she almost missed what Raph was saying, “So, let ya' know when I land?" 

 

"Uh-huh, I'll come pick ya' up with Casey!" 

 

“A'right well, I've gotta pack, bye!" 

 

“Bye, Shea. See ya' soon.” 

 

Raphael let himself smile, it was an actual smile. He and Shea were going to work this out and that would happen in just a matter of hours.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figured I should post this by now since it was written up. Hope you're all well! (I don't own the song used here, it is called 'Thinkin' Bout You by Frank Ocean)

**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic was inspired by a poem that my friend, Deanie95 wrote and posted on her DA account, that link is in the associations part. 
> 
> Also, this fic was previously on my DA account however, I will be moving most, if not ALL my fics over to here.


End file.
